Die by the Drop
by Mad Hatter - J
Summary: The second part to my True Blood series; a sequel to 'In the Cold, Cold Night'. Persephone is called back to Dallas to investigate the disappearance of Godric.
1. Chapter 1

"This is awkward for me to ask, but would it be possible for you to accompany me shopping tonight?"

Bill glanced up to meet Persephone's eyes, but she didn't seem to find anything strange about the request.

"For Jessica," he further explained to her as she nodded, "All the clothes she owns at the moment are...indecent."

"Will she be coming with us?"

"Sookie will be staying here with her whilst we are out. I do not know her, uh, sizing."

Persephone found Bill's awkwardness about the whole subject very amusing, smirking as she went to find a few articles of Jessica's clothing that would provide them with the information they needed before they undertook a shopping trip.  
>They both decided that a car would be the best way for them to travel to the desired location, the only mall in the area being in Shreveport, not far from Fangtasia.<p>

"Where are you two going?," Jessica asked as both older vampires were about to walk out the door. Sookie sat in the living room, waiting for Jessica to lose interest in what the others were doing, and instead join her so that they could occupy themselves with, what she hoped might be, a heart-to-heart girl chat.

"Out," was all Bill replied.

"That is _so_ not fair," Jessica moaned, "How come I never get to go out and you always get to go out whenever you feel like it? Persy, tell him I can go with you!"

"Not tonight, Jessica," Persephone told her.

"This sucks! I hate it!"

* * *

><p>Arriving at the mall, Bill had paused once he was on the other side of the automatic-doors, unsure of where to start. Persephone had taken charge, leading him to the first store they had seen that sold clothes that would suit Jessica. Moving from store to store, she had begun to see that Bill's taste was a bit too 'Little House on the Prairie'. In other words, Jessica was probably better off with Persephone making most of the purchase choices.<p>

They were now standing in the clothing department of what felt like the twentieth store they had entered, having trouble finding anything that both Bill and Jessica would agree on as 'appropriate'. From a rack towards the middle of the department, Bill fished out a denim mini-skirt. Staring at the tiny piece of fabric, he shook his head.

"What ever happened to leaving things to the imagination?" he asked, not particularly directed at Persephone, but more as a general thought.

"Humans rarely have imaginations anymore. Not when they can get everything on demand," she replied, but she sounded distracted. Glancing over at her, Bill saw that she had found a dress and was holding it up against herself in front of a mirror.  
>"What do you think?" she asked.<p>

To allow herself to blend in a little more whilst they were out, she had dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. It was a comfortable outfit, one that she wore often now that she was living amongst humans, but she did sometimes long for the more familiar forms of clothing, such as the long dress she now held.

"For Jessica?"  
>He doubted that that defiant young teenager would wear such an elegant gown; but the midnight-blue silk did suit Persephone.<p>

"For me," she replied, turning around. Surprise crossed her features as she looked behind Bill. He froze with alarm and spun around to find Eric observing them.

"I think it would look fantastic," the tall blond smiled.

Both Bill and Persephone gave quizzical looks as they noticed there was something different about him.

"It's the new me," Eric explained, noticing their expressions, "You like?"

"I do," Bill nodded.

"Very nice," Persephone agreed, taking in his new, shorter hair. She couldn't remember, in all the centuries they had known each other, his hair having ever being cut shorter than its usual shoulder-length. The shorter, brushed-back style, however, accentuated his eyes and made him seem...something. She couldn't put her finger on it.

The sound of a cell phone ringing interrupted their thoughtful silence. It took Persephone a moment to realise that it was hers. Passing Eric the dress she had picked out, she took the phone out of her jeans pocket. Glancing at the caller ID, she frowned.

"Yes?" she answered, and not in a very friendly manner.

Bill and Eric would be able to follow the conversation perfectly well with their strong, vampire-hearing, however, Bill returned to his browsing, whilst Eric remained beside her.

"I think you need to get back here," the caller informed Persephone.

"What has happened?"

There was a slight pause on the other end.

"Who's around you?" they asked.

Persephone glanced at Eric who was pretending not to listen, instead pressing the silk of the dress between his fingers.

"No one I need to worry about," she responded.

"Are you certain?"

She was quickly growing tired of him questioning her like this. She was well and truly used to his often-juvenile behaviour, but he never failed to irritate her when he wanted to.

"Stan, if there is no real reason for you to be calling me whilst I am away, I will be returning to Dallas, but only to hunt you down."  
>Not that she would have to do much 'hunting'; Stan resided in her house, what vampires referred to as a 'nest', along with their other vampire colleagues.<p>

"Please do. I'll be waiting for you by the front door," he said smugly. His deep chuckle followed this.

"I'm hanging up."

"Godric's gone missing."

Eric made an unmistakable movement, and Persephone glanced up at him. His eyes remained on the dress he was holding, but he had stopped moving his fingers; he was listening intently now.

"How can you be sure that he's missing?"

"He hasn't shown up for about a week. We've received no word of him. We thought he might have gone to see you, but judging by your reaction...he hasn't."

Persephone closed her eyes and tried to think hard. The feelings she had been receiving from him weren't of fear or pain, so she could rule out Godric being hurt or killed, both tasks being very difficult to accomplish considering his age and power. Under nearly any circumstances she could think of, Persephone knew that he would've have had to have gone willingly, wherever it was he _had_ gone. She hated to think of the reasons why he would have done such a thing.

"Put Isabelle on," she ordered.

Stan was irritated by the request, but could only obey. Persephone heard him and Isabelle speaking away from the phone, exchanging harsh words with one another, before a familiar female voice finally said, "Ma'am?"

"Isabelle, what is the situation over there?"  
>She had to be sure that Stan wasn't trying to get her to return to Dallas for his own reasons.<p>

"We require your presence," Isabelle told her.

It was decided, then: Persephone would not be spending a few extra days in Bon Temps, as she had first hoped.

"I'll leave tomorrow night," she said into the phone, "After a few arrangements have been made here."

Persephone closed her phone and placed it back into her pocket. Bill glanced over and saw the staggered expression on her face. She glanced at Eric again, who seemed shocked, but was hiding it well.

"Eric..." she began, but he answered before she even finished the question.

"Yes."

"Is everything alright?" Bill asked.

"The sheriff of Area 9 has gone missing," Eric told him with a troubled voice.

"Godric?" Bill asked, familiar with the vampire, though having never met him personally.

"Correct."

"I understand if you must leave," Bill told Persephone.

"It would be better if I did," she agreed, then turning to Eric, "Perhaps back to Fangtasia?"

"Of course," Eric allowed. He had just as much vested interest in this sudden turn of events as Persephone did, maybe more, even.

"Thank-you for helping me out," Bill said, "I think I know what to look out for now."

"Not too much frill and try and steer clear of the neutral tones," Persephone reminded him before leaving the area with Eric. She noticed he was still carrying the dress she had found.

"Are you going to put that back?" she asked him.

"Of course not," he replied, "I intend to buy it for you."

* * *

><p>"I thought you'd left," Pam frowned at Persephone as she and Eric walked into Fangtasia.<p>

"Pam," Eric said with a note of warning in his voice.

It was a Sunday night and the club was closed, allowing them the privacy and focus they would need to discuss and plan their next step.

"You're his second, aren't you?" Eric asked as they reached his office and took a seat. He was referring to her rank in the eyes of vampire politics.

"Yes. Which means Area 9 is now my responsibility; at least until he is found."

"This is deeply unsettling," Eric sighed, staring down at the top of his desk.

"Be that as it may, Eric, actions must be taken to ensure that no ill-harm has been done. If you wish to help me investigate, I would not stop you from doing so."

"Sookie," Eric said suddenly, getting some ideas.

"You think that she may be able to help? How can you be sure that humans were involved?"

"You know Godric as well as I do. Better, even. No vampire has strength or power that matches with his."

"Yet you feel that it is more likely that a human could have taken him?"

"I do. Which means that if they are capable of capturing him, none of us are safe."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't think that the Fellowship of the Sun's proximity to our nest is a mere coincidence in regards to this happening. If Sookie consents, and _only_ if she consents, she may be of some use."

"I'll ask Bill, though he is likely to oppose the idea."

"I'll leave that part to you, then. There are a few things I must see to before I go."

'A few _humans_ you must see to', Eric almost said, but he knew that she was under enough stress as it was.

They had both just lost their maker.


	2. Chapter 2

"Fuck!"

"Is this a bad time?"

Persephone stood in the doorway to Sam's office at Merlotte's, after passing an unfamiliar young woman in the hallway. Judging by the expression on the woman's face, she and Sam hadn't been discussing her nomination for 'Employee of the Week'.

"You could say that," Sam replied, running his hand through his hair and leaning back in his chair.

"Who was that? I don't think I've ever seen her here."

"Name's Daphne. She's a new waitress I hired, but..."

"No good?"

"Hopeless."

He chuckled weakly and groaned, while Persephone approached him, stepped in behind the chair and began to massage his shoulders. After the long, stressful day he'd had, a little bit of comfort was exactly what he needed.

"What's troubling you Sam? And I promise that I'm not 'babying' you."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for the stuff I said to you. I was pretty drunk."

"I know."

"I hate to say this, but it seems like if we're not fighting then we're fucking."  
>Sam thought back to the naked, primal sex they'd enjoyed in the woods the night before. It had seemed almost like make up sex, but then he wondered if every time hadn't been make-up sex.<p>

"What's wrong with that?" Persephone joked.

"It doesn't seem very healthy."

"Is that what you want? A 'healthy' relationship?"

He didn't know what it was about her, but sometimes she just screamed 'masochist'.

"Well, it would be nice...For once in my life."

Pleased with his response, Persephone ran her hands down his chest and leant forward to rest her chin on his shoulder. He rested his head back against her, feeling his stress begin to ebb away.  
>Until she decided to whisper to him:<p>

"Unfortunately, it's too late."

Sam sat forward as she straightened herself into an upright position.

"I told you a while ago that I was leaving?"

"Yeah, but that was weeks ago. I thought that...maybe, you'd decided to stay? For good."  
>The ounce of hope in his voice, which he had tried to hold back, was nonetheless touching, but Persephone had no other choice.<p>

"Something has come up. I need to leave, this time without any delays."

"For how long?"

"As long as I'm needed."

"Will you be coming back?"

Persephone chuckled, deciding to leave his question unanswered, and leant forward to kiss him on the cheek.

Sam gazed at her as she sauntered out, knowing that he didn't want her to go, but unable to bring himself to stop her. Maybe one day he'd be able to make up his mind and finally accept the way he felt about her; but today just wasn't that day.

Walking towards the front exit, Persephone passed Tara at the bar, who greeted her before turning her attention to Daphne, who was still finishing off her share of the closing procedures, and apparently doing a poor job of it.

Persephone was just passing a couple of tables when she stopped, catching a strange scent that no one else in the bar but Sam would've been able to pick up on. It was animal, but definitely not shape shifter; Persephone liked the way Sam smelled. This odor was like decay; repulsive and sweet at the same time. It was coming from a booth that Daphne was now clearing, the table covered in many dirty plates, but there was only one glass, suggesting only one person had been sitting there.

"Someone was hungry," Persephone commented.

"That would be my friend, Maryann," Tara explained as she helped Daphne carry a few plates towards the kitchen, "She can really put it away, but I have no idea where it all goes."

Persephone remained still for another moment, before the scent became too much. She left for the fresh air of the night, beginning to piece together a few things about this 'Maryann'.

* * *

><p>It was only around 12 o'clock when she stepped inside Bill's house, guessing that he would've finished his shopping a couple of hours earlier. She wanted to see how Jessica liked the clothes she had helped choose out.<p>

"Hello? Bill, I thought I stop by and-"

She stopped as she saw Jessica sitting on the couch in the living room, alone. Blood-tears ran down her cheeks and she sniffled as Persephone approached.

"What happened? Where are Bill and Sookie?"

"I just wanted to see my parents. They were on T.V. and I just wanted to... I miss them _so_ much. I miss _everything_."

She began crying again, wiping at the blood but only making the mess worse. Persephone spotted a tissue box sitting on the coffee table and grabbed it, offering it to the young girl.

"What happened?" Persephone asked again, sitting down beside her.

"Sookie took me to my house, well my old house. I just wanted to get a glimpse of them. But I couldn't help it. As soon as I saw my mom, I just went right on up to the door and knocked. I was talking to them, my parents and my sister and then Bill shows up, all pissed off for no reason, like usual."

She rolled her eyes and dabbed at her cheeks with a tissue.

"Then he was drivin' me and Sookie back here and they had a fight about her taking me there in the first place, so then _she_ got all pissed off too and just got up out of the car and walked off. Bill wasn't even gonna go after her. He's such an idiot!"

Persephone waited patiently for her to actually answer the question she had been asked.

"Then we heard a scream."

"A scream?" Persephone asked with a frown.

"I don't have a clue what happened out there; all I know is that when Bill brought her back to the car, she was all bloody and twitchin'. He made me drive 'em to Fangtasia. Ain't that cool? He let _me_ drive!"

"They've been at Fangtasia this whole time?" Persephone asked, ignoring the teenager's ignorance to which events classified as 'important information'.

"Must've been. I haven't heard diddly-squat from either of them since then. Bill made me come back here."

Persephone stood up. She would have to pay Fangtasia a visit for the second time that night, even if it was just to make sure Eric was treating Sookie humanely.

"Please don't go," Jessica said, tears beginning to flow once more, "I really need someone here. I'm so depressed."

She picked up one of the pillows from the couch and began sobbing into it, turning the pale green fabric to a rich, wet crimson. Persephone looked down at her, trying to recall how she had felt after she had been turned, when she had realised that she no longer had a place in her own family and that she would have to watch them all grow old and die, while she lived on.

But it was far too long ago for her to remember.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

Jessica raised her head from the pillow, her face now almost entirely covered in her own blood.

"Kinda," she sniffed.

"I'll go and get you some Tru Blood. Why don't you go and wash your face? You'll feel a bit better."

Jessica threw the pillow onto the couch opposite and got up, liking the sound of the idea. Her face felt gross and sticky; the blood-tears were just another reason to hate being a vampire.

"What type did you decide on?" Persephone asked on the way to the kitchen.

"B-positive," Jessica answered.

Opening the fridge door, Persephone found a well-stocked supply of Tru Blood, and picked out the type she needed. She knew that she was going to have to stay there for the night, both to watch over Jessica, as well as to keep her company. The first few years were always the hardest for new vampires.

Then she realised that if Sookie had been hurt, and if Eric wanted her to help them in Dallas, it would probably mean a delay in their plans. It wouldn't take very long for Sookie to heal, but she wouldn't be able to get to Texas by the following night. That was, if Eric could even convince Bill to let her.

Putting the bottle of B-positive into the microwave and setting the time, Persephone took out her phone while she waited and decided to text Stan to let him know about the delay.

'**There has been an unexpected setback. You should expect us the day after next, instead.'**

She had never gotten into using the 'text language' that everyone else seemed to be using. Even Eric would sometimes send messages she had trouble deciphering. She leant back on the kitchen counter, waiting for a reply. Moments later, just as the microwave beeped, her phone began vibrating.

**STAN:****  
><strong>**:'(**

And although it was said to be near impossible to read sarcasm in instant messaging and texts, Persephone could almost hear Stan's mocking tone. But maybe that was her fault; she wasn't a very good role model in that particular area.


	3. Chapter 3

The sleep space under Bill's house, which he usually shared with Jessica, was a lot smaller than the one at Persephone's house. She was far more used to the sun-proof bedroom back at her own house in Dallas, and although Bill's space was by no means cramped, she still wondered how much he enjoyed sleeping there, in the dirt with the walls closed in around him.

Persephone pulled herself out of the trapdoor, waking much earlier than Jessica. Being an older vampire, she rose minutes, sometimes seconds, after the last few rays of sunlight had disappeared from the sky. As a very young, new vampire, Jessica's body required that little bit of extra time to recharge.  
>It made no difference, however; Persephone would have to hang around and wait for Jessica to rise before she could anywhere. Her intended destination? Fangtasia.<p>

"Are we goin' somewhere?" Jessica asked when she woke an hour later. She was clearly excited by the prospect of finally getting out of the house.

"I must go to Fangtasia. _You_, on the other hand, must stay here. And before you protest," Persephone said, putting her hands up as Jessica opened her mouth, "I promise that once everything has been taken care of, I can take you travelling of a night. Allow you to see the world through your new eyes."

"But I've been to Fangtasia before! Can't I just come and hang around? No one will even be there besides other vampires."

"This is not a social visit. It's business. Now, there's plenty of B-positive in the fridge if you get hungry. We won't be gone long. You have all the time in the world to go out."

Jessica's sulky expression told her that she wasn't convinced, but she obeyed...for the time being, at least.

* * *

><p>Spiriting through the forest, able to turn what would've been a near-hour car trip into a three minute flight, Persephone found herself in an area close to Lafayette's. It was about time she checked in on him, she thought.<p>

Knocking on his front door seemed to be of no use; Lafayette, though definitely home, was simply not in the mood for guests.

"I know you're in there, Lafayette. I only knocked to be polite. If I wanted, you know that I could simply walk in."

"Not if I said you couldn't," a rough, groggy voice replied from inside. It was highly unlikely he would be revoking his invitation anytime soon, though, considering the long-term consequences that could incur.

Ignoring his half-hearted attempt to tell her to leave, Persephone slid open one of the windows and slipped through.

"Well, that was classy," she muttered, brushing herself down.

Lafayette was lying on his sofa, watching the television. Dirty dishes sat on his coffee table, looking as though they had been there for a few days.  
>It wasn't that he was feeling physically unwell, certainly not after a dose of Persephone's blood; memories of the two weeks he had spent in the basement of Fangtasia had found their way back into his conscious mind and were now simmering away, choking his sanity.<p>

"Why are you here? I'm grateful for all your help and shit, but I don't need any more of it."

"It would appear that you do."

Lafayette folded his arms across his chest and sat up, shuffling back a little so that his back was supported by the pillow that his head had been resting on.

"Yeah, well, a vampire is the last thing I need to be seeing right now."

Persephone sat down on the carpet, in front of the couch and brushed her fingers over his arm. In an instant, she felt fear and dread rolling off of him. He looked down to see what she was doing.

"Stay the fuck out of my mind, girl."

"You're not well."

"No shit."

"If you want to forget about what happened, put it behind you, you need to focus your mind on something else."

"Like what?"

"Friends? Family? Work?"

"I ain't ready for that. Now I just want to be left the motherfuck alone."

His usually energetic responses sounded weak.

"I don't want to leave you here like this," she told him.

"I know yo' ass is probably gonna be back here tomorrow night anyway, so go ahead."

"As a matter of fact, I won't be in town tomorrow. I'll have left by then."

"You're finally going, huh? Yeah, it was only a matter of time before you got sick of this redneck, backwards-ass town."

"I happen to like it here. And you'll be glad to know that Eric is coming with me. You'll just have Pam to deal with," she frowned, then, catching Lafayette's expression of failed recollection, "Blonde. Vampire. A bit of-"

"Oh, that bitch."

"Yeah, that bitch."

"I told them and you told them: I ain't dealin' any of that shit anymore. Why the fuck would she come near me again?"

"She's a twisted woman."

"Yeah, that seems to be a running trait with you vamps."

Persephone gave him a crooked smile, patting him a couple of times on the arm as she stood up.

"So, you comin' back?"  
>He would never admit that he would miss her. Crazy though she was, the vampire had actually grown on him.<p>

"We'll see."  
>She moved off to leave the house.<p>

"You can use the door this time, ho!"

* * *

><p>"Jessica told me what happened. Is she alright?"<p>

Bill and Eric both glanced up at Persephone as she walked in to Eric's office.

"She will live," Eric told her.

"What was it that attacked her?"

"I didn't see," Bill explained.

"She described it as 'a bull-man'," Eric said, amused by the absurd account, "I sent Pam and Chow to search the woods but they found nothing. Pam said that it smelt like an animal, but nothing familiar."

Persephone recalled the scent that she had picked up in Merlotte's the night before, but quickly pushed it from her mind. She wanted to focus on one thing at a time and Godric's wellbeing was her number one priority.

"Moving on to more important matters," Eric went on, "It seems that I assumed correctly when I said that Bill would not allow Sookie to come with us to Dallas."

Pam chose that moment to stroll through the door, Sookie in tow. Persephone glanced at Bill who turned his head towards her, his expression a clear indication of how he felt about their request.

"Dallas? What's in Dallas?" Sookie asked. It took Persephone a second to realise that Sookie was dressed only in a long, blood-red 'Fangtasia' t-shirt and a pair of white socks. She caught Eric staring at the young blonde and it suddenly struck her that perhaps he had other motives behind trying to bring her with them.

"Someone very important to us has gone missing. Although it seems impossible, we have reason to suspect foul-play at the hands of some of the humans from the area. That's where you come in," Eric explained to her.

"You want me to go with you and try to look into people's minds for information?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Sookie, no!" Bill objected, giving her a very stern look.

"Bill, it's my decision," Sookie told him, "Besides, I'll only go on two conditions."

Eric raised an eyebrow and sighed, "Which are?"

"First, I get five thousand dollars."

"Sookie," Bill warned again.

"What? I've missed a lot of work lately. Plus, I want a new driveway."

"Bill, your human's getting cocky," Eric said, but he seemed amused by her overconfident behaviour.

"The second condition," she continued, "is that Bill comes with me."

"No," Eric answered.

"Of course," Persephone told her.

Sookie watched as Eric turned his discontented expression to the other vampire, but she gave him a look back that said 'allow it'.

"Yes," Bill agreed, "I go with her. And she gets _ten_ thousand dollars."

"Bill!" Sookie whispered in surprise at the sudden increase of her requested amount.

Eric was still staring at Persephone, as though they were having a silent conversation. He turned back to Sookie.  
>"Very well. Persephone and I will be travelling by our own means, but I suggest you book the soonest flight you can to Dallas. Shall we say, tomorrow?"<p>

Although surprised by such an immediate proposal, Sookie nodded.

"I'll just need your credit card details," Bill said. There was no way that he would be spending a penny of his own money on an endeavor started by Eric.

* * *

><p>The moment that Persephone had left, Jessica began getting ready to go out. She didn't know where, exactly, but she couldn't stand being cooped up in Bill's house any longer.<br>She showered, taking time to comb through her knotty hair and then toweled herself off before putting on one of the few dresses she owned; a white and yellow sundress. Looking through the bathroom cupboards, she came across a curling-iron that Sookie had left there. She grinned at the prospect of changing her dead-straight auburn locks.

By the time that she was finished, her hair was curled and pinned back at the sides. She put on a little blush, some mascara and then added pink lip-gloss as the finishing touch. She stared at her reflection, unable to believe how much more attractive being a vampire made her; it was as though all of her best features had been highlighted a thousand-fold.

When she finally decided that she was ready, she tried to think of a place she could go and show herself off.  
>What was the name of that place Sookie worked at? There always seemed to be something interesting going on there; at least from what she'd heard Bill and Sookie discuss.<p>

Merlotte's! That was it!

Knowing the name wasn't a big help though; she still had no idea how to get there. But she did have a car and there were sure to be signs around advertising it. Bon Temps was only a small town, after all; how many bars could a small town have?

* * *

><p>Sam was standing behind the bar, staring down at the counter, when Jessica walked in. She caught everyone's attention immediately as she sauntered towards an empty booth. Unlike Persephone, it was very easy to see what Jessica was, but all the same, she was stunning.<p>

Sam had never seen the young girl before, nor had Persephone ever mentioned anyone like her, but he still wondered if they knew one another. Realisation struck him; he was thinking of her again. Ever since she had told him she was leaving, without even giving a definite reply as to whether or not she would return, he had begun focusing on trying to move on. But the focusing part just made things worse, like when someone tells you not to think of something and it becomes all you can think about. Having Daphne around made things a little easier, especially after she had begun to show a certain interest in him, but he knew that, deep down, he could never feel for Daphne the way he had about Persephone.  
>And, as if to validate this, his truck sat out near his trailer with boxes of his things piled into the back. Once he realised that he no longer had a very good reason to stay in Bon Temps, he made up his mind to pack up and move on. Despite what he had told Persephone, he could feel trouble brewing in the small town and it was undeniably the fault of Maryann.<p>

Hoyt was sitting by himself, staring at his beer and feeling pathetically lonely. He couldn't blame his mom, (well, not entirely), for having never met a nice girl, but all the same, he knew that if an opportunity presented itself, he would probably be too shy to take it.

He sighed.

Feeling the sudden change of atmosphere in the bar, he glanced up and found himself staring at the most lovely young woman to ever cross his path. She locked eyes with him and looked away, smiling to herself.

He couldn't believe his own luck.

She took the seat in the booth next to his, sitting in the seat that faced towards him. Every now and then she glanced up, catching his eye.

_Come on, Hoyt_, he told himself, _This is it. Your once in a lifetime chance to prove that you aren't the coward that everyone thinks you are._

Taking a deep breath, he picked up his beer, stood up and approached her.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" he asked the doe-eyed red-head.

"Sure," she told him, her nerves coming through.

"I'm Hoyt," he said, taking a seat across from her.

"Jessica."

"You know, I was just thinking to myself, 'Hoyt, why can't you ever meet any nice girls around here?' And then you walked in."

He smiled, just as nervous as she was.

"Would you like a drink or someth...or food? Are you hungry? You should try the chicken-fried steak, because it's...it's like a chicken and a steak got together and had a baby. It's delicious. Crispy-"

"Maybe I'll just have a bottle of Tru Blood. B-positive?" she told him, waiting for his response. She just hoped he wasn't a vampire-hater.

He stared at her in disbelief and leant forward, whispering:  
>"You're a vampire? For real?"<p>

Jessica nodded shyly.

Hoyt sat back in his seat, a grin slowly spreading across his face.  
>"That is… awesome."<p>

"I wasn't supposed to be out tonight. Bill'd probably kill me if I wasn't already dead."

"You know Vampire Bill?"

She nodded again.

"What about Persephone? She's in here a lot."

"Mmhm."

"Wow. That's just..."  
>He got up, grinning at her. She was surprised at how eager he still was, even with knowledge that she was a vampire.<p>

"Alright, you stay right there. A bottle of Tru Blood coming right up."

Jessica giggled as she watched him make his way to the bar to place the order. He looked good enough to eat.

* * *

><p>"Bill, this is an awful lot of pink," Persephone commented as she sat in the back of Eric's car with Sookie. She had collected bags of Bill's shopping from the last store he had been at before he had rushed off to stop Jessica from murdering her own father. When he explained what really happened, Persephone was able to fill in quite a lot of convenient holes in the story Jessica had given her.<p>

Now, as she looked through the bags, she realised that allowing a man, vampire or not, to pick out clothes for a girl was not a good idea. From the seat beside Eric, who was driving, Bill turned to look back at her.

"What's wrong with what I chose?"

Sookie, who was examining the items, too, agreed, "It _is_ a lot of pink."

"What's wrong with pink? Don't girls like pink?"

"Pam likes pink," Eric commented.

"There's your answer," Persephone told Bill.

Eric chuckled, maneuvering his slick sports car onto the main road of Bon Temps. When they arrived in front of Bill's house, Sookie helped Persephone with some of the bags. They were both excited to see how Jessica liked her new wardrobe.

"We shall see you tomorrow evening," Persephone told Eric, leaning on his door.

"That you shall," he said, before speeding off into the night.

"Why did you agree with him about taking Sookie?" Bill asked as he unlocked the front door.

"Bill, you and I both know who is likely to be behind this," she replied, "Sookie would be of great use if our theory proves correct. Thank-you for agreeing to come, Sookie."

"It'll be nice to get out of town for a while," Sookie nodded.

They stepped through the door and it only took a split-second for their calm to break as Bill spotted Jessica on the couch with a human. From where they stood, it looked as though she had fallen off of the mainstreaming bandwagon.

Bill sped towards them, ripping Jessica off of the young man and tossing her aside like garbage.

"Bill!" Persephone cried, in shock of what he had just done to his own 'child'.

"Hoyt?" Sookie asked when she saw who Jessica had been with.

"Sookie," he said, embarrassed to have been caught in such a situation.

"Jessica!" Bill growled at the young girl as she got to her feet.

"I wasn't gonna bite him, I swear!" Jessica cried.

"I'm so sorry, Bill. I know how this must look," Hoyt said.

"Get out of my house!" Bill ordered.

"I'm going, I'm going! I wasn't gonna do nothing!"

"It's not her that I'm protecting."

Hoyt's eyes widened. Hesitating, he quickly left the house. Bill cast a dark look at Jessica, who was standing beside Persephone like a child cowering behind their mother. Persephone placed a comforting arm around her as she began to cry.

"I know that you feel like shit because you had to make me. And you should feel like shit," Jessica told him, "But I hadn't even kissed a boy before that."

"Sweetheart, why don't you go and splash some water on your face?" Persephone suggested gently, "You've gone and messed it up again."

Hiccupping, Jessica nodded, swiping her forearm across her eyes, smearing it with blood. She began walking towards the staircase, but then turned around, a curious expression on her face.

"Is it normal for my fangs to come out when I get turned on?" she asked.

Persephone raised her eyebrows.

Realising what she had said, Jessica clapped a hand to her mouth and giggled, spinning around to run up the stairs.

"You know what?" Sookie smiled, "I think I'm going to like her."

"Do not make the mistake of thinking you two can be girlfriends," Bill told her, before turning to Persephone, "And why is it that whenever you're around, I end up being the bad guy?"

"Jessica is your first underling. You still have much to learn about raising them."

"Is that right?" he asked, a touch of sarcasm to his voice.

"It gets easier with each one."

"Well, I do not intend on having any more," Bill said, matter-of-factly.

"We should bring her to Dallas," Sookie and Persephone suggested at the same moment. They glanced at one another, grinning and then looked to Bill. He stared at them, disturbed by their synchronized suggestion.

"I'm beginning to regret this already."


	4. Chapter 4

Unlike Eric, Persephone informed Sookie, Bill and Jessica that she would be in Dallas by the time they arrived.

She kept her word.

By the time the jet marked 'Anubis Airlines' landed on the strip at the airport, Persephone was already standing in the hanger, waiting patiently for them to de-board. A black limousine was parked a few feet away, ready to take them to their destination, the Hotel Carmilla; one of the few completely vampire-friendly hotels in the country. The chauffeur, a chubby bald man, stood holding a sign marked **COMPTON PARTY**.

"That would be me," Sookie smiled to him, stepping off of the plane. Bill and Jessica's travel coffins were being moved off the plane onto a luggage carrier.

"Hey, Persephone!" Sookie greeted warmly.

The vampire raised her hand and smiled back, flicking her gaze to the chauffeur as he tossed his sign aside.

"You're with the Compton party?" he asked Sookie as she approached him.

"Sure am. My name's Sookie."

Always the polite and friendly girl that her grandmother had raised her to be, Sookie went to shake his hand, only to be grabbed by him rather violently.

"Get in the car, bitch!, he growled, as she struggled with all her might to get away. Before Persephone had even moved, Bill's travel coffin burst open. He grabbed the man and bared his fangs.

"Make a noise and it will be your last."

Fear in his eyes, the chauffeur removed his gripping hands and stepped back.

"Persephone?" Bill called, his gaze still focused on the man who had been intent on hurting the woman he loved.

She appeared beside them.

"After you," she told the chauffeur, gesturing to the open backseat door. He obeyed without question, slipping into the limousine. Persephone followed in behind him.

Moments later, after Bill had helped release Jessica from her own coffin, which she had some trouble getting open, the foursome sat inside the vehicle, a new driver behind the wheel, heading towards the hotel. The faux-chauffeur sat across from Persephone as she held him with her glamouring gaze.

"What is your name?" she asked, her voice like silk.

"Leon," he replied, looking dumbstruck.

"Okay, Leon, who sent you here today?"

"The Fellowship of the Sun."

Bill noticed something flicker across her features, but she did nothing.

"Are you a member?"

"No. They hired me."

Persephone remained silent for a moment, then continued slowly, "Who, specifically?"  
>She looked as though she was expecting a name in particular.<p>

"I don't know. It was over the phone. They paid me to do it."

"What were your instructions?"

"To abduct the human that's with the Compton party, then bring her back to the church," he explained, his voice monotone.

"Do you know my name?" Sookie asked, shuffling forward in her seat.

"No ma'am. I didn't even know you were going to be a woman. All I know is that a vampire's using a human to find a vampire named Godric."

A soft frown crept onto Persephone's face. She was troubled by the fact he knew both this piece of information, as well as Godric's name.

"What does this mean?" Bill asked her quietly.

She didn't answer him, instead turning to Jessica, who seemed fascinated by the way she was controlling the man.  
>"Would you like to learn?"<p>

She nodded with enthusiasm, but looked at Bill, expecting him to say something to stop them; but he smiled and gave her a nod of encouragement. She climbed over to the seat next to Persephone, who moved over so that the young vampire could be directly in front of her target.

"Alright," Persephone instructed, "Gaze directly into his eyes. Clear your mind of all thoughts. Wait until you feel a connection. Now...pull his mind into yours."

Face full of concentration, Jessica followed the given directions. She felt a sort of 'click' occur between their minds. She and Leon were locked.

"Feel it?" Persephone asked.

She nodded, remaining silent so as not to break the trance.

"Now tell him that everything is going to be alright."

"Everything is going to be alright," Jessica assured him, her voice more even then they had ever heard it be before.

"You're safe."

"You're safe," Jessica repeated to him.

"I'm safe," Leon nodded with a huge dopey grin.

Jessica cackled, rocking back in her seat.  
>" Oh my god, this is so fun!"<p>

"Do not abuse your new powers, Jessica," Bill told her, sounding very much the part of her father.

"Oh, come on, Bill. I'm sure there have been times that you've used your powers for evil," Persephone said, amused by Jessica's reaction to her newly learnt gift.

Bill raised an eyebrow, but gave no reply, trying his best to ignore the silly smile that Sookie was giving him.

"Are we gonna keep him?" Jessica asked, as if he were a stray dog they'd picked up on the side of the road.

"For now," Persephone replied.

They arrived at the Hotel Carmilla a half hour later, greeted by one of the bellboys, who opened their door, while a couple of others collected their luggage.

"I'll see that you're settled in before I leave," Persephone told them, "I'm told that the service here is superb."

Jessica stepped out, Leon following her obediently.

"Jessica, you're in charge of him until we decide to release him, alright?"

She nodded at Persephone, happy to finally be trusted with some form of responsibility.

Inside the hotel lobby, it looked as though Fangtasia's interior decorator had passed through.

"Why is it always black and red with vampires?" Sookie wondered aloud.

She and Bill approached the reception desk, while Persephone, Jessica and Leon headed for the seated area nearby.

"We have a reservation under the name 'Compton'," he told the pretty blonde-haired vampire behind the desk.

"I have you down for a room with no bed," she told them, throwing a quick glance at Sookie, who was clearly human.

"Eric," Bill muttered.

"No, we need a bed," Sookie told her.

"Of course. I do have a light-lockable room with a king-sized bed. It's a suite. Double sound-proofed."

"We'll also need an adjoining room for my..." he turned to Sookie, "What should I call her?"

"Isn't there a vampire word?" she asked him.

"Progeny."

"Ooh, call her your 'ward'. Like how Bruce Wayne had a ward."

Bill found the reference strange, but all the same it sounded reasonable. He turned back to the receptionist, who was re-booking their requested room.

"Becky Eubanks is a stuck up whore, who let Chase finger her in church!" Leon suddenly yelled across the room.

Flicking their heads in Jessica's direction, Bill and Sookie saw her and Persephone sitting across from the glamoured man, Jessica nearly falling off the couch with laughter, while Persephone had her hand over her mouth, her body shaking.

"I apologise," Bill told the receptionist, who was clearly not impressed by the behaviour, "She's new."  
>He glanced back at the pair.<p>

"Though Persephone should know better," he muttered.

"Aw, let them have their fun," Sookie told him, "They're bonding."

Bill frowned and took the keys that the receptionist was now handing him. Sookie did have a point, though; if Jessica's experimentation on the endurance of human sanity made her less prone to teenage mood-swings, then glamour away, he said.

* * *

><p>Lafayette lay on the couch, in almost the exact same position he had been in when Persephone had visited the night before. He was yet to have taken her advice of putting his mind to something more occupying.<p>

"Good evening, Lafayette."

He jumped and then froze. That voice. Oh, god, _that_ voice.  
>Turning to look out his window, he saw Eric standing on his porch, smirking at his terrified expression.<p>

"You can't come in unless I invite you, and I sure as hell ain't nowhere near that crazy," Lafayette told him, getting to his feet and taking a few steps away from the window.

"You have to come out eventually. And I have all the time in the world," Eric grinned.

"I thought you was supposed to be gone."

Eric's eyebrow twitched, as though he had been about to raise it in surprise, but he was better at concealing his emotions than that.

"Who told you that?"

"Persephone," Lafayette replied, his voice quivering with uncertainty.

"She told you that. She must trust you."

"More than she fuckin' trusts you," Lafayette responded.

"Oh, I highly doubt that."

"What do you want?"

"It seems you owe me a favor."

Lafayette stared at him, eyes wide in disbelief of the fact that the vampire that had kept him prisoner in a basement for two traumatizing weeks could consider him indebted.

"You got to be fuckin' joking."

"I am not. I gave you a very generous gift, Lafayette. The gift of not killing you."

"Well, happy fuckin' birthday to me."

"I presume that Persephone has already given you her blood to heal your...ailments. You're extremely lucky. Her blood is more powerful than mine. All the same, though, it looks as though I'll have to give you some other blood."

He set down a bottle of red liquid on the open-window sill.  
>"From now on, you'll be working for me."<p>

* * *

><p>"We were ambushed at the airport," Bill was saying into his phone. The others were settling down in the hotel room, exploring and relaxing.<p>

"Look at this," Jessica said nearby, eyes full of excitement as she showed a menu to Persephone, "You can actually order _people_! And you get to choose their blood-type and everything!"

Persephone gave her a stern look, a hint, perhaps, that she should stick to the Tru Blood in the mini-bar, but then she gave her a wink.

"Why didn't you tell me that the Fellowship of the Sun was involved?," Bill asked the person on the other end of the call, "Yes, well, you could have shared your suspicions with me."

He rolled his eyes and hung up, glancing at Persephone.  
>"Eric is on his way."<p>

She looked up from the menu that she and Jessica were still examining.  
>"I'll go and wait for him in the lobby, then."<p>

Like Persephone, Eric travelled fast. He was in Dallas from Shreveport several minutes later. Persephone was sitting at a table near the bar, but was not drinking; she wasn't really in the mood for it, plus, at her age, she didn't need as much blood as, say, Bill or Eric.

She smiled as Eric approached, glancing around the bar to observe who else was around them. There weren't many vampires or humans and there were none seated close by.

"Bill told me what happened," Eric said as he took a seat, "It seems we were right."

"Unfortunately, yes. The Fellowship has decided to take another step towards conflict."

"What are you still doing here, anyway?" he asked, changing the subject, "I thought you'd have returned to your nest by now."

He heard her sigh very faintly.  
>"Putting it off?" he smirked, knowing her rocky relationship with some of the nest members.<p>

She raised her eyes to meet his.  
>"No. As a matter of fact as I was..."<p>

"Just leaving?" he finished for her.

She glared at him and then flicked her gaze towards the elevator, out from which Bill had just stepped. He looked around and then spotted them, striding over.

"I'll leave you two alone. Call me if anything interesting happens."

Bill watched her go, with a slight look of confusion. He had expected the three of them to sit and discuss some sort of plan, but it appeared that this wasn't going to happen.

As she strolled out through the lobby doors into the warm Dallas air, Persephone paused. Eric had been right; she had been delaying the inevitable. But it was something that couldn't be put off any longer.

It was time to return to the nest.


	5. Chapter 5

The exterior of Godric's house was very modern, built at a fair distance from human-occupied homes, but still close enough to reflect the vampire's sympathy towards the human race; he felt no need to segregate himself and his nest members. There was no point, really, if they were going to be sharing the world with them from now on.

The front of the house was well-lit, with a large driveway and manicured garden. Any passers-by would be likely to stop and admire such fine architecture, with a thought, perhaps, that whoever resided inside the house had both money and good taste. If they were to further inspect the property, they might have questioned why there were light-proof metal shutters on the windows, or why the atmosphere around it during the day was almost...dead.

Persephone came to a stop in the driveway as she spotted Stan standing, arms folded, under the porch awning, a big smirk stamped on his face. He had chosen an outfit that he thought would help him blend in with the culture of the state; cowboy boots, black jeans, a vintage black Scully shirt, and to top it all off, a wide-brimmed black-leather Stetson.

"Well, howdy," he grinned, showing his fangs.

Persephone raised a delicate eyebrow, but felt a smile creep onto her lips. She continued up the drive, past Stan, and through the open door of her home. Following her progress with his eyes, Stan hesitated and then shook his head, strolling in behind her and pulling the door closed.

Persephone walked through the main hallway, glancing into each room as she went, greeting the vampires that sat inside, some with their human companions. As she reached the end of the hallway, she stepped into the main lounge area, an open room with a large stone fireplace, white carpeting and elegant furniture. The fire was lit, mainly for the benefit of the humans; the house hadn't exactly been designed with insulation and temperature in mind.  
>The light from the fire created shadows, which flickered across the wall of the room and danced across the faces of the vampires seated at the large oak table that was located to the far right.<p>

"Welcome home, ma'am," Isabelle greeted, standing from her seat.

The other vampires seated around the table did the same. There was a seat, usually reserved for Godric, at the head of the table, but on this occasion, it would be Persephone who filled it. Stan took the seat to her left, while Isabelle returned to the seat on her right. Persephone observed all the faces before her, seeing unrest marked within each vampire's eyes. By the looks of things, they had been in need of a leader from the moment Godric had gone missing.

Stan removed his hat, placed it on the table and then gave his full attention to their sheriff's second-in-command.

"I see how much you are all unsettled by what has happened," she began, "As I am, too."

"We all know who's responsible," Stan interrupted, "Why don't we just go and pay them a visit, huh? End this thing now?"

"You will do no such thing." Persephone flicked her head in his direction, "Have you learnt nothing from the past 300 years?"

"Yeah, I have. I've learnt that you and Godric are too chickenshit to take any action."

His words caused uproar amongst the other vampires, who began whisper and give cries of protest. But Persephone remained calm.

"And I know that your life motto is 'Act now, consider the consequences later'. We all need to keep our wits about us. All suspicions aside, we cannot be a hundred percent sure of who did this. That is why I have brought someone here to lend us some help."

"We don't need outsiders," Stan said, disliking the idea very much.

"Well it seems like we aren't getting very far on our own."

He scowled at what she was implying.  
>"Says you."<p>

"No. She is right," Isabelle agreed, "If we are to make any progress in this matter, perhaps outside help is what we need."

"You're such a fucking kiss-ass," Stan told her. She glowered at him.

Quickly growing tired of their antics, Persephone stared down at the table, her mind beginning to drift. Noticing her sudden disconnection, Stan and Isabelle stopped their bickering.

"We shall discuss this further, tomorrow, when our guests arrive," she told them, her eyes still trained low. She rose from her seat and left, walking off in the opposite direction that she had come in, towards the more secluded area that housed her and Godric's bedroom.

Stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her, she leant back against the cool wood and tried to clear her thoughts. She slowly opened her eyes and was met with the familiar scene; a king sized bed draped in reds and golds with a big overhanging black canopy, engraved gold furniture and ornaments, blood-red candles and absolutely no windows. The only way in or out of this room was through the door.

A ghost of a memory found its way into her mind; their first night in this room, feeling almost the same way they had when they had first met. Lying in there together as though anticipating the world to be gone when they awoke. Making love.

She tore herself away from the comfort of the doorway and slipped out of her clothes. Naked, she slid down onto the silken sheets and allowed the flood of memories and feelings to engulf her, as though sinking down into a deep ocean. She let it take her.

* * *

><p>Bill and Eric sat in the bar lounge, a waitress stopping at their table to deliver their order of Tru Blood, one bottle of A-positive for Bill. They thanked her and she continued on her way. Bill stared at the bottle, but made no move to drink from it.<p>

"I hope you enjoy your blood substitute, which is costing me forty-five dollars," Eric told him.

"Oh, I have no intention of drinking it," Bill replied, "I just wanted you to pay for it."

"You're so mature."

"Answer this question. Why the allegiance with Godric? You have no obligations to Dallas or Texas. This is personal for you. Why?"

He stared at the blonde vampire seated across from him, expecting him to give some spiel about wanting to assist Persephone in her time of need, but Eric surprised him.

"He is much beloved by his subjects."

"Only kings and queens have subjects, Eric. Not sheriffs."

"Godric could have king of Texas, had he wanted to. He could have been king of any territory, anywhere," Eric replied, jumping quickly into a defensive tone, "He is twice as old as Persephone and I, and very powerful. There are none above him in the new world."

Bill had never heard Eric talk with such respect. He may have described Persephone to others like this, but he had never shown her such reverence, especially not in front of other vampires. He saw her as a near-equal, though obviously older and more powerful; Godric, however, was made to sound like some sort of divine being.

"Well, if he's so powerful, how could they abduct him?"

"That's the part that troubles me the most," Eric replied. They lapsed into an uneasy silence.

"What can I give you to release Sookie from her agreement?" Bill asked him.

"Nothing. Since you love your humans so much, I would have thought you would want to protect them. The vampires here, they're like cowboys; if they don't get Godric back, they'll want justice. They'll start attacking people."

"Surely Persephone wouldn't allow that?" Bill considered.

Eric gave him a look that said, in this case, she just might.

"But open aggression against humans? That's insane."

Eric leant back in his chair and adjusted his position. "Well, that's Texas."

* * *

><p>Dressed in a slinky silk black nightgown that reached just above her knees, Persephone emerged from her bedroom, feeling more like a vampire than she had in the past six weeks she had spent away. She felt empowered.<p>

The vampires that were relaxing in the lounge area, Stan included, looked up. They could almost feel the power radiating off of her.

"Hungry?" Stan asked her, getting up from his chair. His eyes trailed over her body, slowly coming back up to meet hers.

She shook her head.

"You sure? We got a whole of bunch of breathers back there just waiting to be bled."

"I'm quite sure."

"Something else, then?"

His eyes moved over her again, this time hoping to get his very obvious point across. She smirked at him.

"No."

He gave one of his deep chuckles. She had endured behaviour like this from him even before he was a vampire. It made her wonder why she had turned him in the first place, though she did have to admit; he was kind of fun.

"Where are you goin'?" he asked as she proceeded in the direction of the front of the house. When she didn't reply, he followed her, finding her sitting in one of the rooms she had passed earlier, the only one in the house that had a TV. Vampires weren't exactly devotees to the televised world, but it was useful for watching the news or getting a good laugh out of the Fellowship of the Sun's evangelistic broadcasts.

Sitting down on the leather sofa in front of the flat-screen, she switched it on using the remote. Sure enough, Steve Newlin's face appeared on screen, speaking dramatically about 'God's greatest gift to mankind; the gift of the sun'.

"What are you watching?" Stan frowned, walking in and sitting down beside her.

She sighed through pursed lips and lay back.

"I would _love_ to just...to just _turn_ that guy," she said with deep earnest.

Stan grinned and laughed. He was one of the very few that got to see this side of her; the true vampire side.

"Can you imagine, though? All that hate for us. I bet he would soon forget it if he were to join our race."

"I doubt that. He looks dumb enough to top himself 'in the name Gee-suss'."

Persephone giggled. She had gone through religions like a nymphomaniac goes through sexual partners; none of them were satisfying enough to maintain a relationship with. Not that she had anything against those that followed religions, (except for, maybe, the Fellowship), but when you've lived long enough to see what it can do to people, it wasn't hard to stay away from.

"I hope you're planning on staying in Dallas from now on," Stan told her, with what might have been very wishful thinking. Then, just to cover up his own intentions, added, "I mean, once Godric's back and all. You won't have any reason to leave."

She nodded, as though supposing he was right. He smiled and ran his hand over the smooth, pale skin of her leg, which was stretched out beside him. Shooting him a half-hearted look of warning, she turned her attention back to the television.

Sarah Newlin, Steve's enthusiastic, blonde wife, was now on the screen, standing inside a part of the church that she referred to as 'the Sanctuary'. Bright beams of sunlight poured into it, making it look as though Mrs. Newlin was glowing, presumably with 'God's shinin' light'.

Persephone could only imagine what would happen to a vampire if they were forced to enter that part of the church during the daytime...


	6. Chapter 6

The following evening, Isabelle informed Persephone that the perimeter guards had made contact with their expected guests; Eric, Bill and Sookie.

"Shall I get Stan?" Isabelle asked only because she knew that she had to.

"No," Persephone replied, relieving her of the galling task, "Greet our guests. I'll notify Stan."

Giving an obedient nod, Isabelle made her way towards the front door. Persephone stood still and focused on Stan's location. He was in one of the rooms opposite to her and Godric's bedroom. Spiriting to the door of the room, she opened it and walked in to find Stan in the middle of something with a human woman, absolutely pummeling into her. Three other vampires sat against the black walls, watching, waiting for their turn. Stan stopped what he was doing and turned his head, still inside the exhausted looking woman.

"Persephone. I was just thinking of you."  
>He grinned a very toothy grin and stepped away from the tied up victim; though she looked as though she had been enjoying herself.<p>

"The guests have arrived. I expect you out there with us, seeing as this affects you as well," Persephone told him, ignoring his nakedness.

"Sure thing. We were just finishing up here, anyway."  
>He glanced back at the three hungry-looking vampires and gave them a nod of go-ahead. They sprang forward, one taking up the position that Stan had just been in, the other two grabbing the woman's wrists and biting into her pounding veins. She let out a scream that was either of pleasure or pain; but, as they say, it's a fine line that lies between.<p>

"Remember, Sookie," Bill was whispering as the group made their way towards the front door, "Keep quiet unless directly spoken to. And even then, do not speak with even a hint of disrespect. These vampires are said to be some of the most brutal; and living in a nest can often bring out the worst in a vampire."

"I know, Bill. And since when am I ever disrespectful?" she replied.

Eric cast a look over his shoulder. She hadn't exactly been very polite on the night that they had first met, in Fangtasia.

The front door opened the moment that Eric stepped foot on the porch. A woman vampire with dark hair and a stylish, white corset dress and gold jewellery stood before them.

"Welcome. I am Isabelle. Please come in."

Eric and Bill gave brief nods of greeting and followed her inside. Sookie followed them and jumped when the door shut behind them by itself. Glancing into the doors along the hallway that they moved down, she occasionally caught sight of vampires sitting inside, drinking blood from wine and martini glasses. Whether the blood was synthetic or human, she couldn't tell. She could feel their cold gazes move over her as she passed by. A shiver forced its way up through her body.

She was glad to find the others waiting in an open living area, (_How ironic, _she thought, _A vampire house with a _living_ room), _with a fire burning brightly nearby. The warmth washed over her like a comforting blanket. At least they had built this house with human needs in mind.

Isabelle stopped beside two other vampires; Persephone, who was wearing a long, blue, silk dress (the one that Eric had bought for her) and a man she didn't recognize. He was dressed very much like a cowboy and looked as though he might tear off a human's head for simply looking at him the wrong way. He didn't seem very thrilled about having company over.

"You could have told me that you hired a fucking human," Stan said to Persephone, clearly offended by the fact that she thought a human could offer any help.

"Now, wait just a minute!" Sookie protested.

"This is how you talk to your maker?" Eric asked him.

Stan growled at the disclosure of what was usually considered very personal information for vampires. Eric smirked. He had about 700 years on Stan; he could take him down without even blinking.

"Stan, you will show our guests respect," Persephone ordered.

"Thank-you," Sookie said.

"Now, can we be absolutely certain that Godric was abducted by the Fellowship of the Sun?" Eric asked.

"Yes," Stan replied without hesitation. Persephone threw him a look to silence any further comments. She turned her attention back to the others.

"No. Although we know that they hired a man to try and abduct Sookie..."

"It doesn't make any sense," Isabelle jumped in, "This is Godric we're talking about, 2000 years old."

"Old don't make you smart," Stan commented.

Persephone sighed and gave him another warning glance. He folded his arms, standing by his opinions.

"Well, if they have got him, I'll hear it. It's my job," Sookie said, taking a step forward.

"There's no reason to wait. We need to take these fanatics down. Full out attack. Exterminate them like the vermin they are. Leave no trace." Stan grinned at his own suggestion, more than likely imagining what it would be like to tear apart hundreds of hate-mongers and gulp down their blood by the gallon. Sookie thought she even saw him lick his lips.

"Hum, vampire-hating church annihilated. Wonder who did it?" Isabelle said in a mock-thoughtful tone, "Fucking brilliant."

"Enough," Persephone told them. She stepped forward and glanced around at the face of each person (and vampire) there. "There will be no unnecessary violence. I will not allow anyone under my command to act like the monsters they depict us as being. What point will that make? That they are right?"

"_Your_ command?" Stan asked, "Just 'cause you're his second, don't make you in charge of his fuckin' territory."

"For now it does," Persephone said.

"In my opinion, we don't need the help of outsiders. Or their puppets."  
>He threw Sookie a disregarding glance.<p>

"Oh, we're not going anywhere," Eric assured him in a low, rough voice.

"What we need is a plan," Bill suggested, taking the initiative.

"I already have a plan," Stan told him.

"It's not a plan, it's a movie," Isabelle scoffed.

"It ain't a movie," Stan argued, then added in a very serious way, "It's a war."

"Enough melodrama, Stan," said Persephone, "Bill's right. We need a plan. A well-thought out, less abrasive plan."

"Alright then," Stan thought, "We take them all out at once."

"Of course, so the federal government can bomb us back to the Middle Ages." Isabelle shook her head in exasperation.

"Things were better then."

"Then go back to Romania and live in a cave, you ranchero poser," Isabelle spat back at him.

Persephone put a hand to her face in amused irritation. Her gaze rose until she was staring up at the roof in silent thought. The others watched her for a moment, expecting her attention to float back to the conversation, but she remained aloof. Bill, however, could see that a plan was unfolding behind her eyes.

"Don't any of you care that there's a traitor in your midst?" he asked the other vampires.

"No," Stan replied.

"Impossible," Isabelle frowned.

"You were the only ones who knew that Sookie was going to be at that airport," Bill went on.

"Explain that," Eric advised. Glancing at Persephone, he saw that she was still yet to rejoin them.

"Unless it was you...," Stan thought, looking at Isabelle accusingly.

"Unless it was _you_," she threw back.

"Look, if ya'll are gonna argue any more, I'm either gonna fall asleep or start screaming," Sookie interrupted, "So this is what we're gonna do: I'll infiltrate the Fellowship of the Sun."

She seemed very keen on the idea, considering herself quite capable of such espionage. She found the prospect quite exciting, really. Stan looked almost surprised by her confidence and willingness to risk her life for their cause.

"Absolutely not," Bill interjected, as was to be expected.

"Let her speak." Persephone had emerged from her trance-like state and was now giving the human her full attention.

"I'll pretend to join the church. Then I can just go in there and read their thoughts," Sookie continued, making it sound much simpler then Bill supposed it would be.

"Not during the day," he said to her, "None of us would be able to help you."

"It would be much too suspicious if she were to show up at night," Persephone told him, "It's a good plan, Sookie. Isabelle? Perhaps Hugo could accompany her? Make it an even more convincing charade?"

"Of course," Isabelle agreed, "I will inform him of the plan."

She walked towards her own room, which was not far from the one Persephone had found Stan in earlier, where Hugo would be awaiting her return. As her human companion, he spent most evenings in the nest with her, in the privacy of their own quarters.

Stan looked restless. He was growing tired of their human-friendly approach.  
>"This is a waste of time, when we could just drink them all. I want no part of this."<p>

"How unfortunate," Eric said. Stan cast him a dark glance before leaving the room. It was now only Persephone that remained standing before them.

"A few words?" Bill invited Eric and Persephone. The three vampires left Sookie in the living room, just as Isabelle returned with Hugo in tow in order to introduce the 'newlyweds' to each other.

Persephone led them to a relatively secluded area; one that at least gave them some privacy from the others.

"I need to know this, now," Bill began, directing these words mostly to Eric, before turning to Persephone, "I am well aware that Godric is both your sheriff and your husband. What I don't understand is your part in this, Eric. You and Godric are no more than colleagues, correct?"

Eric's gaze lowered and became very deep, as though he was transporting his mind very far back, to a place only he knew. Bill stared at him, his face almost blank except for a little crease on his forehead.

"Godric is my maker," Eric finally revealed in very low tones, "As he is Persephone's."

Bill looked at them both, but when his gaze passed over Persephone, he caught something in her eyes. It was pained and secretive.

She flicked her eyes up to meet his, before redirecting them to Eric.

"There is something I must tell you."

Eric's face fell. He had known her for over a thousand years, knew almost everything there was to learn about her. Except for one thing.

"Godric...is not my maker," she revealed, hesitating before she finished, "I am his."


	7. Chapter 7: An Interlude

**47 BC**

**Alexandria, Egypt**

The Romans, led by Caesar have invaded the land of Egypt. There is heavy dispute regarding the leadership of the country. Caesar steps in and proclaims Cleopatra to be its queen. For this, she invites him to stay as her own personal guest.  
>Custom and religions remain prevalent and respected, despite more and more Roman soldiers entering the city every day...<p>

As the sun began to set, throwing a red glow over the Nile, Queen Cleopatra stood by an open window inside her palace. She was watching the soldiers below, as they strolled around the city streets, some looking for a place to relax with a few bottles of wine, others looking for a private place to relax with a woman or two. Behind the queen, lounged on one of the gold-framed chairs, was the Roman Emperor Caesar. On the queen's orders, servants were catering to his every whim.

"We are united!" the emperor was saying, "My people and yours. Are you pleased?"

Cleopatra turned away from the window, her gold-laden hair adornment rattling with her movement.

"There is one thing I must ask of you before our two kingdoms can be wholly at peace."

The emperor waved the servants away from him and stood up. Stepping up beside the queen, he asked:  
>"What shall it be?"<p>

"I wish for you to select six of your finest soldiers, so that one may be chosen by our high priestess to be sacrificed up to the gods. If they are pleased with our offering, the new kingdom shall prosper."

Emperor Caesar gave a nod of approval. He turned to his guards that were posted by the doors and gave them their orders.

The six soldiers were selected based on their show of valor on the battlefield. Strong, loyal and well-trained, the men were led down a golden, torch-lit hallway, towards the inner temple. They had been told that one of them would be chosen by Cleopatra's high-priestess, but not what purpose they would be serving beyond the selection.

They moved through a large open doorway. On an intricately-carved throne sat a young woman. Dark hair flowed out from under her headpiece, which, like most of the objects in the temple, was also made of gold. She wore a white gown that flowed like water down onto the floor in front of the throne. She didn't look up when the men entered, but continued to stare straight ahead, like a statue.

The soldiers came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the priestess, and stood shoulder to shoulder at attention, waiting for some sort of signal. The temple's assistant, who had led the soldiers in, left the room. An ominous echo sounded through the chamber as he pulled the heavy door closed behind him. Long, witch-finger shadows danced across the face of the priestess as a gust of wind, blown across the room from the shutting door, caused the flames of a nearby wall-mounted torch to flicker.

After many minutes passed, the men began to grow uneasy. Their gazes shifted cautiously to the people either side of them, each wondering if, perhaps, they were expected to make the first move. When they directed their eyes forward once more, they found that the glazed look had left the priestess' eyes; she was observing them intently.  
>Her eyes shifted left, towards the first soldier in the line. He kept his gaze trained forward, knowing it was disrespectful to make eye contact with someone so esteemed by both the queen and the gods. Tall, fit and highly skilled, he was the highest ranked of the six men, personally selected by the emperor to be Legatus Legionus; the military high-commander.<p>

However, he did not seem to impress her. She looked to the second man in line. He was one of Caesar's personal body guards; loyal, trusted and highly regarded. In him, she saw nothing of remote interest. Her judgment was much the same for the next three men, until her eyes fell upon the face of the last soldier. He was the youngest of all six, as well as the shortest; well-built, with an expression hardened with battle. His face still had that slight roundness that often accompanies adolescence, but his strong jaw-line and high cheekbones gave balance to his features.

She knew in an instant that he was right.

"You may leave," she told the other five men. They hesitated, glancing down the line at the one who had been chosen, before filing obediently out the same door that they had entered through. The temple chamber was thrown into silence once more.

The remaining soldier had not moved, or hardly given so much as a blink, since he had first arrived in his position. But she could see that he was nervous from the way that kept clenching his jaw and swallowing what saliva there was in his dry mouth. These movements drew her attention to his neck and the pulsing jugular that lay beneath.

"What is your name?"

"Iulius Orcus Godric," the young man replied quickly, without shifting his gaze.

"Godric...Step closer."

He took a step forward, then, unsure, risked a glance at the seated woman. She smiled encouragingly and waved him closer. He moved up the first few steps that led to the gilded throne and stopped, dropping to one knee and bowing his head.

"What is your age?"

"I am sixteen."

"You are only a boy."

He looked up, a definite furrow in his brow.  
>"I'm not," he assured her.<p>

"Remove your armor," she told him.

Slowly getting to his feet, he began undoing the ties and clasps that held the metal breastplate to his chest. He pulled it up over his head and placed it on the ground, before proceeding to remove his leather-strip kilt.  
>When he was done, he wore only a red-colored tunic and a leather belt that sheathed his dagger. The priestess noticed markings of black-ink, just below his neck.<p>

"Remove your dagger," she said.

He did so and knelt forward once more, offering it to her. She took it from him, it seemed, without moving, for he had not seen her leave the throne; but this was impossible. The distance between them was too far for her to have simply reached out and taken the weapon.

"Now," she continued, without emotion, "Remove the rest."

He gave a slight pause before proceeding with her request, beginning with the brown-leather sandals strapped to his feet.

After slipping out of the remaining items of clothing, he stood before her, naked. He did not feel humiliated, but was curious as to why she wanted him in such a state.

Taking a moment to admire the tattoos scattered around his body, the priestess asked, "Do you know why you were sent to me?"

"As an offering," the boy replied.

"Yes, but not for me. For the gods. Would you so readily give you life for your empire?"

"I am willing," he answered, kneeling down and bowing his head once more, as though awaiting her deadly blow.  
>Flowing white satin appeared in his field of vision, though, once again, he had not heard her move. She bent forward and placed her hand under his chin.<p>

"Rise," she told him. He got to his feet and she raised his still-bowed head, capturing him in her gaze. He felt a sense of power that he never experienced, coming from the woman; she was not human. It seemed like such a strange thought, but he could not shake it.

"You would die so willingly. Yet, as a soldier, you are always seeking life. Freedom. A sense of immortality."  
>He caught excitement dancing behind her eyes.<br>"I can give you all of that. Would you walk with me through the darkness? For all eternity? Together, we shall meet Death, and we will feel no fear."

She gently pushed his head to the side and bit down into the soft flesh of his neck. He opened his mouth to cry out, but no sound escaped his lips. Slowly, he began to weaken. They both collapsed to their knees, he with exhaustion, but she feeling the ecstasy of fresh, young blood.

When she began to feel his heartbeat slow, she stopped drinking and held him in her arms. Taking his dagger, she slit open her wrist and quickly pressed it to his mouth. As instinctive as a suckling baby, he swallowed the red liquid that flowed out of the incision. He didn't require much, this she knew, but she gave him all she could. As of this moment, they would forever be one.

She stared down at the young man as he lay pale but quickly changing, and knew that he was what she had waited for, for so many centuries. He was her first.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A song I sort of selected to be Godric's theme is 'Closer' by Kings of Leon. I think it fits him perfectly, plus it's a beautiful song.**


	8. Chapter 8

"I don't understand why I haven't heard this before. The centuries that we spent together; they were all a lie."

Eric was pacing, something he never usually did unless he was exceedingly incensed; but he hadn't been in such a state, as he was now, since his days as a human. Persephone was perched on the end of her bed, watching him with a concerned eye. She had expected some sort of reaction from him, yes; but he seemed utterly lost.

"They were not," she consoled him, "What I am makes no difference."

"It does to me. As it should to any vampire! Why was this kept from me?" he demanded, turning to face her. His body was heaving with deep breaths, despite its lack of need for any.

"When I made Godric, I promised him that he and I would be equals. There is no need for hierarchy between vampires with a blood bond. And so he kept this in regard when he made you."

Eric, who had stopped his repetitive movements after losing his temper, took up the motion once more, trying with all his will to gather his thoughts.

"I have showed you so little respect. I treated you as my equal all this time when I had no place to do so."

"Do you think I care? Did I ever show you any sign that I wanted more from you?"

Eric sat down beside her and bowed his head down to his hands that were clasped on his lap.

"Who else knows what you are?" he asked.

"As of tonight, only three; Godric, you and Bill."

"No one else? Not even the Elders?"

"No. I believe that I may actually be older than many of the Elders. And since there has never been any sort of 'Vampire Census', and I pray that there never will be for the amount of uproar it would generate amongst our kind, I may never have to reveal my true self."

Eric raised his head to look at her, still unable to understand her objective in all this secrecy.  
>"Why would you hide such a thing away? You could be queen of any territory. You could have anything you want."<p>

"Power holds no meaning to me. Why would I want to hold any position in this new hierarchy? It is too full of corruption."

"Yet you allow Godric to be sheriff."

"I do not 'allow' him anything. I released him centuries ago. He was offered a higher position, but he refused it. And I feel that he takes no joy in being sheriff. I see you in Louisiana, sheriff of Area 5, and I can tell that you enjoy your authority. But at the same time you long for the freedom we used to have."

"A freedom that no longer exists, that was only possible before the so-called 'Great Revelation'. Now our every move is tracked by vampire and human authorities alike."

"Nostalgia will not change anything. I make all my decisions with the New World in mind. The Old World, great though it was, has made its last turn."

Her instinct to offer comfort to others was the only trait that remained from her short human life so many years ago. She reached out and put her arm around his powerful shoulders, bringing him closer to her body. He shed no tears, but he was markedly upset by what he perceived as his own failings.

"Why can't you find him? Sense where he is?"

"He doesn't want to be found."

Her words came out flat with acceptance. It hurt her so much to know that these words were true, and she knew that Eric would never be able to understand, but she knew that she had to try. They would find him and he would tell them what she already knew. But for Eric's peace of mind she would look for Godric and allow him to tell his child himself.

"He was taken against his will," Eric replied, with the beginnings of a growl, speaking more to convince himself than to convince her.

"You know that it can't be. Think about what you're saying."

"No."  
>He stood up and walked towards the bedroom door, pausing as he placed his hand on the handle.<p>

"You could stay here tonight, if you wish."

"I would rather not."

In a movement so quick that it seemed he hadn't been there at all, he left the room and the house to return to the Hotel Carmilla. A knock sounded on the door, and, for a brief moment, she thought that it might be Eric changing his mind. But it was just Stan.

"Thank Christ. I thought that they were never going to fuckin' leave. I gotta have a word with you, by the way. About this bullshit-"

"Not now, Stan. Please."

Her expression appealed to the very tiny amount of decency he still had left in him; a microscopic amount that he reserved only for her.

"Alright. But I ain't gonna forget to bring it up later."

He left her alone, much to her relief. Thousands of years of existence and only now was she beginning to feel her world collapse around her. She needed to go somewhere quiet, where she would be undisturbed by anything. She knew just the place.

She needn't go any further than her own backyard, where a large in-ground pool sat, the water cool and still. She slid in feet first, making neither a splash nor a sound. She took up a cross-legged position on the tiled bottom and closed her eyes. Not having to breath could sometimes come in handy for a vampire, but using the skill amongst humans could often cause great uneasiness. When there were no humans around in the nest, particularly in the outdoor area, Persephone had often come out here to sit in the water, simply to meditate on things or to even just lose herself to the infinitesimal currents around her.

But what usually offered her insight and a sense of calm in situations did not work this time. So instead, she sat with her eyes closed and thought of nothing.

* * *

><p>Lafayette was still rattled from his visit from Eric the night before, but he had gathered up enough nerve what little nerves he had left after his ordeal – and had finally followed Persephone's advice of getting back into his work routine. Sam, though both relieved to see him back and concerned by his lack of energy, had given him back his job without a second thought. The place just wasn't the same without him.<p>

He had gotten back in to the swing of things, busily cooking the latest orders from the dinner-time customers, but the stew he had been mixing tasted a little flat. He needed something else to throw into it. Heading for the industrial-sized refrigerator to locate a vegetable that would do the job, he stepped into the frosty metal room and began scouring the shelves. Wanting to spend as little time in the cold as possible, he tried to make a quick job of it. Until he heard a familiar voice:

"Remember me?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin, skittish since the basement, but what made it worse was the particular person. Well, not person exactly. Vampire.

"Oh shit," he whimpered when he turned to see Pam in the doorway.

"You do remember me," she smiled; but it was the kind of smile that would make a baby cry, "How's life?"

"Uh, n-not so good. Is you real?"

"This is nice," she commented, inspecting the fridge the same way that a new home-buyer would inspect a property, "I could sleep here in a pinch."

"If you do anything to me, Persephone will be on your ass so fast, you won't even see her come through that door."

"Urgh, been there, done that. I have no idea what Eric sees in her. Or anyone else, for that matter', she added thoughtfully.

"She's a fuckload nicer than you, that's for sure."

"That's what she wants you to think. But I didn't come here to talk about people that piss me off; I'm here on business," Pam explained, moving towards him.

"What kind of business?," Lafayette asked, taking a step backwards, pressing himself into the metal shelving in order to be as far away from her as possible.

"Eric tells me that he already explained our little deal."

"Yeah, and I already told him that I ain't dealin' that shit anymore."

"Oh, you are very much dealing this shit again," she told him, a sharp edge to her voice.

Lafayette made an erratic movement with his hands to show that he didn't understand what was going on, and then put both hands up in front of him to tell her to wait.

"First ya'll kidnap me and torture me for damn near three motherfuckin' weeks for sellin' V and now...?"

"Now what?" Pam asked, quickly growing bored and irritated.

"What the fuck are vampires sellin' V for, anyways?"

"We're not. You are. Now get to work," she ordered, setting down another two bottles of vampire blood on the metal counter by the fridge door.

Lafayette didn't have a clue where the hell Persephone was, but he prayed that she would be coming back. If she didn't, he realised that he was as good as dead. And by dead, he meant _actually_ dead; not the vampire equivalent.

* * *

><p>Stan had stirred Persephone from her peaceful nothingness underwater. Standing at the pool's edge, looking down, he grew tired of waiting for her to come out on her own accord.<p>

"Hey, Persephone!"

If it was possible to sigh when submerged, she would have done so.  
>She broke through the surface of the clear water and pulled her long locks away from her face. Her expression said it all. This better be important. Of course it wasn't. It was Stan.<p>

"I thought you might like to know that it's nearly five a.m. Might want to, you know, get inside before you get a sunburn."

"Thanks for the concern," she said without meaning it, pulling herself out of the water into a crouching position, before rising to her full height.

"So...something's bothering you," Stan guessed, following her inside. She left a trail of water as she went, clothes and body soaked.

"How could you tell?"

"We'll get Godric back, if that's what you're worried about. They're only humans after all. All we need to do is-"

"If you use the word 'kill', 'annihilate', 'destroy', 'exterminate', 'end' or 'wipe out', in the remainder of that sentence, than I will severely hurt you."

"Sounds like fun," Stan smirked, "Oh, and 'wipe out' is two words."

She turned to him, droplets of water running down her face, arms and legs, her dress clinging to her body, her expression full of exasperation. But he could tell that she wasn't as mad with him as she was trying to appear.

"Need help getting out of that?" he asked her.

She turned, gently sighing and began walking towards her room.

"Don't you have some poor fangbanger to feed on or something?" came her tired reply.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me," Stan grinned.


	9. Chapter 9

**Fellowship of the Sun Church/ Light of Day Institute/ Soldiers of the Sun Headquarters**

**6:58pm**

"What time did she say she would be gettin' here?"

"7 o'clock, honey. I've told you a hundred times already."

"I know, but... Why the hell did you agree to do this? I mean, to _actually_ _invite_ one of them in here? It's so crazy. It's like lettin' in the Devil himself."

"Listen, if you're gonna keep goin' on like this, I'm gonna have to ask you to sit this one out. I got everything. Under. Control."

Steve Newlin, now the leader of the Fellowship of the Sun since the recent death of his father, reined in the look of sheer irritation he had been about to give his wife, Sarah. Instead, he flashed her a brilliant, reassuring smile; one that the viewers of his television broadcast would have been very familiar with.

"What time is it now?" Sarah asked as she scurried after him towards his office. She was more scared then she would care to admit, but the thought of a vampire, the thing they detested the most, coming into their church and spreading its evil around was too much to bear.

Steve paused and looked at her, his irritation chomping at the bit once more.  
>"It's 6:58," he told her, glancing at his watch.<p>

"Good. So we still have about five or ten minutes."

"That is, _if_ it decides to show up. Who knows if these things actually have the ability to keep appointments," he chuckled, "Or if they even have the nerve to come near us."

The clock that sat on the wall above his desk struck seven o'clock, giving off a pleasant melody. Sarah would have enjoyed the sound if wasn't for the sudden eruption of voices and footsteps coming from the hallway outside. The door to the office swung open, revealing a pale-faced young man. In one hand he held a crossbow loaded with a wooden stake, while the other hand was nervously tapping his thigh.

"She's here," he announced, before glancing to the left, down the hallway outside and taking a few steps in the opposite direction, eyes wide.

Steve stood up from behind his desk and Sarah did the same from her seat in front of it, her expression quite similar to that of the so-called 'Soldier of the Sun' that had just left. But he was one of many 'soldiers'; two of their more brave boys stepped up to the office door, flanking their guest.

"Reverend Newlin, Mrs. Newlin. My name is Persephone. Thank-you for seeing me."

Steve woke up in a state of disarray. He glanced at his wife, who was asleep beside him, and then tried to recall the dream he had been having. Ah, yes; the vampire. That fucking abomination that they had allowed into their place of prayer. Why had _she_, (No, '_it', _his subconscious whispered), suddenly appeared in his dreams (_nightmares_)?

That unfortunate meeting had been months ago, not long after his father's death; a fact that he found highly suspicious. All he had wanted to do was humor the thing; maybe even get some more material for his sermons...or perhaps get a shot at ridding the world of one more piece of evil. And, sure, it had been interesting to meet, in the same kind of way that it would be 'interesting' to meet a serial killer.

Maybe she would have been nice if she was human (_It_. If _it_ was a human). She hadn't threatened them or spoken disrespectfully. She had only seemed intent on keeping some sort of peace between them.  
>No. What was he thinking? He shook the thought from his mind. He really needed to do more services and less travelling; he was spending way too much time with the general public. Those damn vampire-loving breeders of evil; just like that stupid blonde bitch and the vampire-fucker, Hugo, who were both well-secured in the basement below the church. And the joke was on them, all of them. They were the ones that would have to answer to God when their time came. He on the other hand, was pretty much guaranteed a spot behind those pearly white gates.<p>

With this thought in mind and a smile planted firmly on his face, he closed his eyes and found that it was easy to drift back into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>While the Reverend slept, Persephone sat up in her bed. She had been resting, but now she felt something wasn't quite right.<p>

Sam.

It was almost like déjà vu, only this time she wouldn't even be able to visit him to make sure that he was okay. She began looking for her phone. She could at least call him.  
>She found it in the pocket of a pair of jeans she had left discarded on the floor of her room after the first night of her arrival. She was silently grateful that they had exchanged numbers during their brief two weeks of a somewhat peaceful relationship. MISSED CALL: ERIC flashed on the screen when she opened it, but she ignored the notification. In a matter of seconds, she had called Sam, waiting patiently for him to answer. His voice came on the line, but it was just his pre-recorded message. She tried the number for Merlotte's, but once again no one answered. Someone was bound to be there on a Thursday night, surely.<p>

"Who ya calling?"

She hung up the phone and tossed it onto her bed, her thumb and forefinger rubbing her forehead but offering no relief, merely an old habit when she was concerned by something.  
>Stan stood in the doorway, blood dripping down his neck and covering his mouth and chin.<p>

"Saved you some, in case you were hungry," he told her when she didn't answer his question.

"No thanks."

"Aw, come on. You haven't eaten since you got here."

"I don't need to feed as much as you do," she said, staring down at black carpet. He stepped towards her and put his arm around her, the blood from his hand smearing over the bare skin of her shoulders.

"Cheer up, Pers. Won't be long before things are the way they should be."

"You mean '_back _the way they should be'," she said, eyeing him with suspicion.

"Sure."

"As your maker, I command you to answer this truthfully. Did you have any part in Godric's disappearance?"

Stan let go of her and took a step forward, chuckling at the question. He spun around to face her, smiling, but with an almost hurt look in his eyes. He couldn't care less about Godric; hell, good riddance he said. But knowing that it would cause her so much grief? He would never do anything to provoke that. You could say that it was the one thing he and Eric had in common; neither of them could stand seeing her hurt.

"No. Hell, no. Why would you even ask me something that?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, a clear indication that she knew him too well; that was why she would ask him something like that. Her expression softened and she looked down at her arm, where he had left a few smears of blood. She wiped at it before licking the residue off of her finger.

"A-negative?" she asked.

"Your favourite."

It hadn't made her feel any hungrier, so she declined his invitation when he offered it again. She wondered how Eric was, especially after his reaction the night before. It was understandable that he had left in such a troubled state after what she had told him; she only hoped that it didn't change their relationship. She didn't care if she was older than he and Godric, she liked the way he acted around her; natural, relaxed, without restraint.

"So...how 'bout it?" Stan asked as he cleaned the remainder of the blood from his face.

" 'How 'bout it?' You're joking, right? That's how you ask a lady to bed? Your manners are by far the worst I have ever had the unfortunate chance of encountering."

"Was that a 'yes' or a 'no'?"

"No."

"You're practically naked anyway. Might as well," he said, as though it were only logical.

"Do I have to use my makership over you?"

She sounded like a mother talking to a stubborn child, which in a way she was, but this is not to be considered in the same way a human-family relationship would be. For very obvious reasons.

"Hm. Oh, yeah, Eric called before. Don't worry, Isabel talked to him, not me. He said that Isabel's breather and the other one-"

"Hugo and Sookie," Persephone said.

"Yeah, whatever. He said that they left this afternoon but they haven't been heard from since. Isabel's having a fuckin' shit-fit over it. 'What if they found out they're working for vampires and they killed them?'," he said, doing a very poor impersonation of a female voice that she guessed was supposed to sound like Isabel, "You wanna go and tell her to calm the fuck down? Or should I?"

* * *

><p>Moments later, the four of them, (yes, the four; Persephone didn't like the idea of leaving Stan alone when he knew where she, Isabel and Eric were going, so she made him tag along), were standing on the property that belonged to the Fellowship of the Sun. They had broken into pairs in order to be less easy to spot, but since they were all dressed in black and there were barely any lights around them in the pitch darkness, it was hard enough to see them as it was.<p>

"This is the Fellowship of the Sun?" Eric asked Isabel, with whom he'd been partnered, "A bunch of scared little boys armed with crossbows and bibles?"

Standing out the front of the main building, the one that housed 'the Sanctuary', in which all of the church services were held, were a few members of the Soldiers of the Sun. This was the Newlins' idea of protection from vampires, but they clearly didn't know a whole lot about what they were dealing with; if any of the vampires that were watching them at that moment wanted to, they could get past them and get whatever they wanted from inside in a human heartbeat.

"Don't underestimate them," Isabel replied, "Support for their movement is growing. Their leadership camps are overflowing with self-righteous extremists, all willing and ready to die for their cause."

"That can be arranged," Eric smiled.

Towards the other side of the church, Stan and Persephone observed the humans like kids observing an ant nest. They had both been there before, but the population of the congregation looked as though it had multiplied a dozen times since then. Stan was getting restless just watching them; it was taking every bit of restraint he had to keep from launching some sort of attack. And he knew that if _he_ couldn't control himself, Persephone certainly could.

"What are we doing here?" he asked her, glancing in the direction of Eric and Isabel.

"Observing."

"Observing what, exactly?"

"Your inability to stop asking questions."

"Hardy-ha-ha."

"Why is Stan here?" Eric asked Isabel, turning his attention away from the other two vampires and back to the church.

"He is like an infant. He can't go unsupervised for longer than a few minutes."

"I don't understand Persephone sometimes. Have you ever asked what compelled her to turn him?"

"Have you ever asked Godric why he turned you?"

Isabel had a valid point; a maker's choice was theirs alone, not something to be questioned. It was disrespectful. Like asking someone's parents why they hadn't opted for an abortion.

"Hugo and Sookie have been in there for too long," he commented, changing the subject.

"Persephone thinks that no harm will have come of them. She may be right. I did feel something before from Hugo, but it has passed."

"Tell me, what is it that you find so fulfilling about human companionship?"

Isabel smiled, thinking of Hugo.  
>"They feel much more strongly than we do. Everything is urgent, exciting. Maybe because their lives are so temporary."<p>

"Yes, they certainly don't keep well," Eric agreed, "Don't you find the idea of him growing old, sickly and crippled, somewhat repulsive?"

"No. I find it curious. Like a science project. Persephone found a human while she was away?" Isabel asked, guessing that this was the reason he was suddenly so interested in vampire/human relationships.

"She may have. That's her business."

Isabel gave a knowing nod, not fooled by his attempt at a detoured answer. She glanced back over at Stan and Persephone, whom she could hear talking. They were keeping their voices very low, at least the human equivalent of low, but the other vampires didn't have a lot of trouble picking up the scratchy sounds of chatter.

"Do you really believe that these fools could overpower someone such as Godric and hold him captive for so long?" Eric asked her.

Eric was still disturbed by Persephone's chilling comment, 'He doesn't want to be found'. He couldn't shake the terrible foreboding that such a statement induced within him.

"Stan is sure of it. Persephone...Well, she is always hard to read in matters like this. But I have known Godric a long time. It's hard to imagine that anything could overpower him."

Not _that_ hard_, _Eric thought, looking over at Persephone, who was now approaching them.

"Not anything human," he said instead, to Isabel.

"Let's say we get the fuck outta here," Stan suggested, "My fangs are starting to itch."

Persephone caught Eric's gaze and held it for a moment, trying to deduce his mood. He turned away before she could find anything that might actually reveal what he was really feeling.

"Where's Bill? I thought he would have wanted to come here tonight for Sookie's sake," she asked as they began moving back towards the Hotel Carmilla to discuss their next move.

"He couldn't make it," Eric told her.

For a vampire, he was a very poor liar.


	10. Chapter 10

The Hotel Carmilla, at this time of night, was alive (well, alive-ish) with activity. Luckily, the hallway was deserted as they stepped out of the elevator and started towards Eric's room.

"I was just thinking," Stan began, receiving peeved looks from the others before he could even finish, "Maybe the little rats ran off and joined the Fellowship themselves."

"Careful. Hugo is mine," Isabel warned.

"Sookie wouldn't have done such a thing," Persephone told him with strong certainty, "She can be trusted."

"Oh, _you_ think that this human can be trusted. That's okay, then; she _must_ be reliable," Stan replied, "And anyway, if you loved Hugo so much, Isabel, you'd have been inside that church ages ago."

"With no plan or exit strategy? That's why you'll never be sheriff, Stan," Isabel mused, "You don't think."

They paused in the middle of the dark corridor, the steadily brewing argument preparing to spill over. Stan stepped towards Isabel, waggling his finger in her face, but she stood firm, hands on hips.

"And that's why you've been getting Godric and Persy coffee for the past 40 years. You never take any fuckin' action. And you," he continued, turning to Eric who was looking more vexed by the second, " The Fellowship has your maker and your telepath and still you do nothin'.

It took a split-second for Eric to lose his cool and in a flash he had Stan pinned up against the wall, his hand to his throat with just enough pressure to hold him in place, but not enough to be strangling him, (despite his almost overpowering urge to do so).

"Are you questioning my loyalty, Stan?" he asked, his voice chillingly even.

"Just trying to return Godric to his rightful position," Stan tried but failed to convince him.

Behind them, Persephone had taken an unconscious, protective step forward, but allowed Eric to speak as he needed; it may have been the only way that Stan would learn his place, though it was unlikely. Isabel seemed torn between being amused by Stan's position and annoyed by his interference once again in their attempt to discuss their next move.

Eric was glaring at him with pure hatred; he would like nothing more than to force a stake up through this man's heart, but there was the inconvenience of him being a child of Persephone's. Surely she wouldn't let such a deed go unpunished.

"I think you may have another agenda," he said to Stan, his voice still composed, "Maybe you think that starting a war with the Fellowship will distract us from the truth...that you're so starved for power, you murdered Godric for his title...among other things."

With his finishing words, he looked to Persephone. Stan flicked his eyes towards her, but quickly brought them back to Eric.

"That is a lie. How dare you accuse me?"

"Eric, please don't make such assumptions," Persephone requested, a strange hint of sorrow touching the edges of her words.

"Besides, there is no evidence," Isabel said, as though she wouldn't put it passed Stan to be capable of carrying out what Eric was suggesting.

Persephone put a hand on Eric's shoulder, a silent appeal for him to let Stan down. He did so, but pulled away from her, moving off along the hallway by himself until he reached the door to his room.

"There may not be any yet, but if I discover anything to suggest that this is the truth, there will be no mercy. In the meantime, you can all stand around and do nothing but argue, or you can go running into that church and kill them all; I no longer care."

His voice became low and rough, as it usually did when he was upset.  
>"If Godric is gone, nothing can bring back what I have lost."<p>

He disappeared into his room, leaving the three Dallas vampires glancing at each other uncomfortably.

"What a fuckin' pansy-ass," Stan commented, breaking the heavy silence. This time, Persephone chose not to scold him. She had seen the tears running down Eric's cheeks and she had had enough. Of everything.

* * *

><p>A light humming sound woke her the following night, as the light-tight metal shutters drew up from the windows around the house. Despite there being no windows in her bedroom, the noise travelled through the deathly quiet house, which waited for the first movements of its inhabitants.<p>

She sat up and looked at Stan, who lay beside her, still asleep. Nothing had occurred between them the night before. He was very much like a loyal dog with its master; at the end of the night he just wanted a spot on the bed. A new sound caught her attention, as her phone began vibrating on the nightstand beside the bed with an incoming message.

**ERIC: FotS. Now.**

Glancing back at Stan, she found that he was now awake and staring at her expectantly, hands behind his head.

"Do not follow me," she ordered. Then she flew through the door, out into the night.

* * *

><p>"Godric?"<p>

Sookie stared up at the young man whom she had just watched lift and snap the neck of a man who easily outweighed him by a hundred pounds or more, and, though shaken, she still had so many questions.  
>What the hell was the Fellowship of the Sun up to? Who from the Dallas crew had betrayed them? Was the young man standing before her the same man they had been searching for this whole time? And, most importantly, where the hell was Bill?<p>

She and Hugo had entered the Fellowship without any problems, greeted pleasantly by Sarah Newlin and given a tour of the main buildings with Steve Newlin himself. It was when a large, brutish looking man named Gabe had joined the tour that things started to turn ugly. She and Hugo had been forced down into the basement and were locked up like animals in a steel cage. Gabe had later decided to pay them a visit, and seconds from raping Sookie, had found himself at the mercy of a 2000 year-old teenager.

"You should not have come," the boy now told her with a solemn expression. They simultaneously turned their heads in the direction of the staircase that led up to the ground floor, as screams echoed down towards them.

"Bill?" Sookie cried out.

"No," Godric told her. He turned his head ever so slightly, as though trying to pick up some sort of minute sound. Recognition crossed his face and he seemed glad. "I am here, my love. Down here."

Sookie was surprised to see Persephone glide down the stairs towards them, but she paused, allowing Eric to go forward first. He acted with a reverence that Sookie would never have thought possible from him.

"Godric," he said, kneeling down, his voice thick with emotion.

"You were a fool for sending humans after me," Godric chided, but Sookie saw that as he looked down at Eric, he too felt utter devotion.

"I had no other choice," Eric explained, "These savages...they seek to destroy you."

"I am aware of what they've planned."

Sookie caught Persephone shift her gaze, as though a suspicion of hers had been confirmed by this simple statement. It made her wonder just what the Fellowship had had planned for him.

Eric lifted his head and frowned before getting to his feet and stepping back. Persephone came forward, but found it difficult to return the adoring look being given to her by Godric. Sensing her uncertainty, he took her hands in his. The action renewed her hope and she finally gave him the smile he would have fought to have seen one last time.

"This one betrayed you," he explained, nodding towards Hugo, who lay unconscious on the floor nearby.

Persephone felt a pang of sympathy for Isabel, who would no doubt be losing her companion before the night was over.

"He's with the Fellowship," Sookie told her and Eric, "He set a trap for us."

A blue light began flashing on the wall as an alarm sounded throughout the complex; knowledge of the invasion and possible pending attack was quickly flooding through the congregation and its leaders.

"Save the human," Godric ordered Eric. He looked to Sookie, who was glancing around the room at the flickering blue illuminate, "Go with him."

She gave a nod and started towards the staircase. Eric remained where he was.

"I'm not leaving your side until-"

"I can take care of myself," Godric assured him, "Spill no blood on the way out. Go!"

Eric's body seemed to move on its own accord, as his mind certainly didn't want to obey the words of the ancient vampire. He followed Sookie out of the room.

Godric looked back to Persephone and gave her hands a gentle squeeze. She was close to tears, but would not allow herself to give in.

"I don't...understand," she said.

"But you do. I know you do," he replied.

She leant forward and rested her head against his neck, a gentle but familiar reminder of the first night she had ever met him.

"I wish I didn't."

"_Brothers and sisters, we are in lockdown. Women with children please take them to our classroom buildings. Men and able-bodied women, security personnel will provide you with stakes and silver just outside the chapel. Our Soldiers of the Sun are on their way to protect our church, but safely evacuate the building now. Brothers and sisters, the hour is upon us!"_

Steve Newlin's calm voice reported over the PA system, brimming with the persuasive overconfidence he so often utilized as a reverend. Scurrying footsteps and cries of confusion sounded from the parishioners as they followed the orders of their leader.

"Let's move," Persephone said to Godric, raising her head.

"It would be better if I were to stay."

"Better for whom?" she asked, seeing no positive advantages for anyone but the Fellowship.

Godric didn't reply, but let go of her hands and planted a gentle kiss on her lips; an unmistakable kiss of good-bye.

"Why are you doing this?" Persephone asked, her eyes shut, "Why now?"

"I'm done," he replied, not bitterly, but with an acceptance that was almost too much for her to bear.


	11. Chapter 11

Eric and Sookie peered around the corner of the wall that they were now pressed against. Three young men, presumably a few examples of the Soldiers of the Sun, stood by the front doors, armed only with stakes.

"I could have you out in seconds," Eric told Sookie, finding the men's lack of anything in the way of actual protection absolutely ridiculous in light of the fact that they were going up against vampires. Sure, stakes could kill a vampire, bring it down for good; but you had to find a way to catch the vampire off-guard, first. Yeah. Good luck with that.

"There are kids out there," Sookie reminded him.

Eric sneered, finding the irony of her asking him not to kill those who had every intention of killing him and his kind, let alone any human that tried to help them, rather despicable.

"None of those humans would think twice about hurting us."

Sookie considered this, and then a thought struck her: "Why didn't you bring Bill with you?"

Seeing the chance that she would pick up on his deceit, Eric quickly replied, "His attachment to you is irrational. It clouds his judgment. He would have killed everyone in this church to save you."

Sookie found his answer suspicious, but considering their current situation, decided to let it slip.  
>"So why don't <em>you<em>?"

Self-restraint wasn't really Eric's strong point, Sookie knew this from experience, but she found his lack of fang-baring, threat-uttering and general throat-tearing to be something more than simple self-discipline.

"I'm following Godric's orders and getting you out," he told her, studying the three guards and contemplating the method of their escape.

"He's your maker, isn't he?"

Eric turned to her, his expression flat.  
>"Don't use words that you don't understand."<p>

"You have a lot of love for him."

He turned his attention back to the guards, not denying her claim, but certainly not giving it any credit.  
>"Don't use words <em>I<em> don't understand," he replied instead, doing his best to maintain his dispassionate façade.

Without a moment's hesitation, he strode out from behind their cover, receiving a harsh whisper from Sookie to come back, but he assured her that he had everything under control.

Developing his own version of a naive human, he moved towards the three Soldiers and smiled politely, taking on a slow southern accent that tried to mimic those that he had come across during his stay in Texas, not to mention the not-so-bright crowd that he pulled in at Fangtasia.

"Oh, hey ya'll! How's it going? Steve sent me over to man the exit. Think I can take it from here," he explained, startling the others, who hadn't seen him approach.

"By yourself?" one of the men asked.

"Huh? Yeah!"

"Well, I mean you're big and all, but there's a vampire on the loose," the second Soldier said.

"Oh, gee."

"Where's you stake?" the third man, who seemed to be the quicker of the three, asked with suspicion marked in his eyes.

"Oh!" Eric laughed good-naturedly, "Dang! I forgot it."

The third man was staring at him in a way that told Eric he needed to wrap up his little game quickly, or risk breaching Godric's request.

"Maybe I could borrow yours?" he suggested to the one that had spoken first.

"No way, man. Get your own."

Eric locked eyes with him and, taking a step forward, said in his normal, albeit most gentle tone, "I would very much like to borrow your stake."

"Yeah. Sure. That would be okay I guess," the same man agreed, his eyes blank and expression softened.

Sookie watched from her spot beside the wall, shaking her head at Eric's antics; but it seemed to have worked, as one of the Soldiers was handing him their weapon. The third man, however, had been quick to pick up on what Eric was. Slowly, he raised his sharpened piece of wood and prepared to plunge it into the vampire's back.

"Stake!" Sookie shouted.

Eric whipped around, knocking the other two Soldiers out in the process, and grabbed both the man's hand and throat. He twisted the hand around so that the weapon was now directed at the wielder's throat.

"Eric! You don't have to kill him!" Sookie cried, running out from her hiding spot.

Eric dropped him, pulling open the front doors.

"Come on!," he told Sookie, but they spotted the crowd of people coming towards them, all, no doubt, armed with the likes of silver, stakes, crossbows and an assortment of other anti-vampire ammunition.

"Those arrows are made of wood," the Soldier Eric had just tossed aside told them, "You'll never make it through."

"Eric, through the Sanctuary," Sookie said, grabbing his arm and pulling him in the opposite direction. Under any other circumstances, he wouldn't have reacted well to being dragged away by a human, but he followed Sookie down the hall without protest. She stopped in front of another pair of white double-doors, pushing them open to reveal a large chapel, its walls practically lined with windows to let in as much sun as possible during daylight hours. Sookie had to admit, when she had seen it during the initial tour the Newlin's had given her and Hugo, it did look beautiful with all the light shining in.

"Where's the exit?" Eric asked her as they hurried down the aisle.

"There are several exits, actually," a familiar voice told them. Steve Newlin stepped down the staircase at the front of the church, directly above where Sookie and Eric were standing.  
>"For you," he continued, "the easiest one takes you straight to hell."<p>

* * *

><p>Stan was pacing around the living room of the nest, deliberating the pros and cons of disobeying what Persephone had asked of him. It hadn't been a command, so he did have some choice, but he knew that she had probably said it that way as a test; she was always doing shit like that. When would she learn? He was never going to be the human-loving, mainstreaming progeny that she wanted him to be.<p>

In the other rooms, towards the front of the house, as well as the bedrooms towards the back, were vampires that Stan had brought together as part of his response to Steve Newlin's Soldiers of the Sun. He paused in front of the fireplace, one arm crossed over his chest, the other with his hand under his chin in contemplation.

Oh, what the heck.

"Everyone, let's go have some fun!"

The vampires appeared around him, grinning with enough malevolence to make a grown man cry.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay, so I chose a song for this chapter – Lady Gaga's 'With Teeth'. I'll also take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been following the story so far. I've fallen into a routine of editing and posting around five chapters a night, so hopefully I'll have soon moved every chapter from Quizilla and I'll be up to where I was when I was posting on there.**

* * *

><p>Surrounded by members of the Fellowship of the Sun, with Steve Newlin at the front of the chapel with a large splatter of green paint between his eyes, Sookie, Eric (who had been lying on the altar, held down by thin chains of silver only moments earlier), Bill (having arrived suddenly and without word of what had been keeping him so long) and Jason Stackhouse (the cause of the green paint on Steve's head, and still wielding the paintball gun) seemed without a way of ending the hostilities once and for all.<p>

You know when you switch on the television, not knowing what's on, and all of a sudden you find a show in the middle of a scene which, to you - seeing as you hadn't watched it from the beginning - seems absolutely absurd?  
>If some visitor had just arrived, clueless as to what was taking place within the Fellowship, they would have been met with a very similar feeling.<p>

And just to shake things up a little more, Stan chose that exact moment to arrive with his vampire posse in tow. The doors swung open as they flew in; Stan at the front as leader, the others forming an orderly line across the back of the church.

"Steve Newlin!" Stan shouted up to the reverend, "You have pushed us too far. You expect us to sit on our thumbs while you round up your men to come and lynch us? We'll kill you first...Same way we killed your father."

Sookie's eyes widened at the crazed cowboy's confession. "Oh God, no."

"Murderer!" Steve shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards the grinning man. Things were escalating fast and he knew it; it was quickly moving out of his control and he wasn't proud to admit that he was actually quite scared.

"Destroy all of them," Stan ordered his mob, who immediately flew to the nearest human, preparing to sink their teeth into the trembling flesh of their necks. Stan's fangs slid out and he moved forward, grabbing a terrified young man and pushing his head aside to expose the site of his jugular.

"Enough!"

The voice echoed through the building and was charged with so much authority that it caused all heads to turn, not just the vampires. Godric stood on the balcony above them, which overlooked the entire scene. He did not seem pleased.

Everyone's attention was then drawn to the double-doors as they were pushed open. Persephone came through them, seeming to almost float as she moved down the aisle towards Stan. Although there was no breeze within the building, her hair and dress flowed around her as though there were, giving her the appearance of something sublimely ethereal. The humans in the room, even those who professed to be anti-vampire, were taken aback.

"Stand down," she ordered Stan.

He looked down at the face of the man he was holding and grinned before throwing him to the floor.

"You! I should've known that you were behind this!" Steve cried, thrusting his index finger towards Persephone with the vigor of a 'good and just citizen' during the Salem Witch Trials whose neighbor was seen presenting 'unholy inclinations'.

"Minister Newlin, I gave you fair warning months ago that something like this would occur if you continued to refuse to leave our kind be. We are not here to harm you, merely to correct the wrongs you have caused not only to us, but to your followers as well," Persephone told him with unwavering calm.

"You see, Minister Newlin?" Godric concurred, "We can coexist. We do not wish to create bloodshed when none is called for. Help us set an example. If we leave you in peace, will you do the same?"

Outraged, the minister glared up at him, "I will not negotiate with sub-humans."

He walked towards Persephone and knelt down in front of her, arms outstretched as though offering himself.  
>"Kill me," he demanded.<p>

There were a few gasps and cries of protest from the surrounding parishioners, shocked by their leader's courage and willingness to self-sacrifice. Persephone felt her fangs stir, but stared down at him, unmoving. He raised his head and stared at her, eyes full of indignation.

"Jesus will protect me," he assured her.

"We two are actually older than your Jesus," Godric told him, "I wish I could have known him, but I missed it."

Persephone smiled up at him and, as she shifted her gaze around the room, locked eyes with Eric. A few more gasps sounded as Godric disappeared from the overlooking balcony, and reappeared before Persephone. He grabbed Steve by the scruff of his jacket and raised him to his feet, holding him in front of the Fellowship believers as though presenting a criminal to the townsfolk.

"Good people, who of you is willing to die for this man's madness?" he asked them.

The humans exchanged sheepish looks, but remained silent. Steve glanced around at them, feeling betrayed; after all he had done for them, now was the time they chose to abandon their beliefs?

"That's what I thought," Godric said, letting go of the minister a little too forcefully and sending him to the ground. "Go home, all of you. It's over now."

Sookie looked so relieved, she could have cried. Instead, she threw her arms around Bill and hugged him tightly.

"Please! Don't leave me!" Steve pleaded to those that were hurrying out of the building. He threw his hands down in front of him in utter defeat. Gathering all the will he could muster, he got to his feet and scowled at Persephone, who still stood in front of him.

"This is your fault! I ought to have had you staked the moment you set foot in here," he growled, referring to her visit prior to this one.

"Perhaps," Persephone told him with a smile.

Behind them, while Steve eyed her warily, Jason and Sookie greeted each other warmly, having not seen one another for a few weeks.

"What were you doing with those people?" Sookie asked him, "Are you out of your mind?"

"Yeah, I was. Just that son of a bitch," Jason replied, pointing at Steve, "It's like he sucked out my mind and replaced it with his own little babies."

"Yet you still know nothing," Steve mocked, chuckling in a way that verged on hysterical, "On the final day of reckoning, we'll see who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell."

Jason smiled and came towards him.  
>"You know, I reckon I've already been to Heaven. It was inside your wife."<p>

And with that, he punched the reverend in the face, sending him back to the floor.

The others watched this with some surprise, but otherwise saw nothing wrong with Jason's actions. Sookie led the charge towards the exit, moving around the sides of the pews to avoid getting too close to the ruined man; all followed except for Persephone, Eric, Stan and Godric. Persephone was still standing before Steve, studying him with a small amount of pity.

Stan, scoffing at her behaviour, turned and slowly marched from the room.

"Come on," Eric said, appearing behind her and gently grabbing her forearm. She turned to him and Godric and began following them out, but not before casting one last look at Reverend Newlin.

"Until next time," she told him.


	13. Chapter 13

The nest was filled with both vampires and their humans as a party progressed inside, an occasion organized by Isabel as a way to welcome Godric back home. Although her intentions were all well and good, in the views of Stan, Persephone and perhaps even Godric himself, a simple 'Welcome back, sir' would have sufficed.

While the vampires sipped synthetic blood from their glasses, and the humans did the same, only with champagne; Persephone and Godric sat side by side in separate chairs, accepting greetings from the party-goers. Their hands were clasped between them, on top of the armrest. To Persephone, everything that had happened between the last time she had been at home with him and this moment now, felt oddly surreal, as though none of it had actually taken place; like they had been sitting there together the entire time. Maybe it was less of a feeling and more of a wish that this were actually so; that they were still living happily in Dallas and the thought of meeting the sun had never crossed his mind.

"Thank-you, sir," a woman said to him, as she stood at the front of the line of people wishing to pay their respects (so to speak) to their sheriff. Persephone hadn't been paying attention to anything the people had been saying, understandably distracted, but when she spotted the next person in line, she brought her attention back to the present.

"Welcome home, sheriff. We are all very relieved," Stan said as he stepped forward. His words sounded very forced, but managed to come across as genuine. His eyes moved from Godric, to the pair of hands clasped on the seats, then to Persephone.

"Mind if I have a word?" he asked her.

They decided to talk outside, where it was quiet and a little less crowded. Only a few other vampires stood around out there, drinking and chatting politely with one another. A few cast quick glances in Persephone's direction, but went back to their conversations without any further acknowledgment of her and Stan's presence.

"What's the matter?" Persephone asked when, after a short while, it began to seem as though Stan wasn't going to initiate the conversation.

"I'm just wondering..." he began, "What happens now?"

She was having trouble understanding what he was getting at. "Godric goes back to being sheriff. I go back to being his second in command, and you and Isabel go back to being his lieutenants."

"Not what I meant," Stan said, beginning to sound impatient. Persephone made a face that asked him to elaborate.  
>"Us..."<p>

She couldn't control the little cough of laughter that escaped her, but seeing his serious expression suddenly felt bad for having done so.

"Stan, I don't understand why you don't get it by now. If you wanted, you could have left the nest and gone off to do your own thing."

"I don't want to 'do my own thing'. I want to be here. With you."

"And every day you put yourself through the same torture by telling yourself that eventually I'm going to simply decide I don't love Godric anymore."

Her words came out much harsher than she had intended and for a moment she regretted having ever said them at all. Stan clenched his jaw and his expression darkened dramatically.

"Oh, so you do love him? Sorry, I must've gotten the wrong impression from you running off to Louisiana while he decided he would go and let the Fellowship fuckers burn him."

Persephone stared at him and, finding nothing to say back, turned to walk away. He grabbed her and forced her back around to face him.

"You can't just walk away, Persy. You made me what I am. Way too late to be having second thoughts."

"I never said I had second thoughts about turning you," she replied, pained that he would think she regretted her actions.

"Then why do you keep toying with me all the time? I can't fuckin' stand it anymore."

"Then leave."

"You know I can't do that."

"Then allow me to make it easy for you. As your maker, I release you."

The minute the words left her mouth, she knew she might as well have just staked him through the heart. His expression flashed from shock, to heartbreak and then to rage, in a matter of seconds. Wanting anything but to see him like that, she spun around and headed back inside.

"Persy! No! You cannot do this!" he yelled after her, before letting out a ferocious growl of fury.

The line that had been in front of Godric was no longer there when Persephone returned to her seat beside him. He broke from his reflective trance as she sat back down.

"Stan loves you," he said casually, not upset but rather very accepting of this fact, one that he had been aware of since she had made the other vampire.

"He doesn't know his place," Persephone replied, sounding a lot like Eric in her choice of words.

"You have never taught him." Godric seemed to be speaking good-humouredly, a little smile playing at his lips.

Persephone shot him a look, but couldn't resist the gentleness of his expression.

"They say that the firstborn receives the most attention from their parents, who put in as much effort as they can to teach the child everything they know and give them the best opportunities. The children after that? Well, usually the parents are too tired to give them the same attention as the first."

"What are you implying?" Persephone asked, "That I gave you so much attention I simply disregarded the needs of Stan?"

"Not his needs. His discipline."

"Which I provided you enough of?"

"It would seem," Godric smiled mischievously. Persephone stared at him, holding the same expression of doubt- giving-way-to-amusement. Smiling together, they leant forward and kissed, moving apart once more to find Eric standing nearby, averting his gaze and waiting to gain their attention.

"We've brought in Isabel's human," he informed them.

"Very well," Godric nodded.

Eric turned and looked towards the vampires that were now moving towards them, curious to see what their sheriff's verdict would be for the double-crossing human. Isabel came forward, practically dragging Hugo into the room. She pushed him to the ground in front of Godric as though disgusted by her own partner's actions, but her expression betrayed the fact that she was greatly upset by it all.

"This is the one who betrayed us," she said.

"Hugo. He is your human, is he not?" Godric asked, glancing from the quivering man to the distressed woman.

"Yes, he is," Isabel answered. The tears forming in her eyes were coming close to spilling out.

"Do you love him?"

Isabel was surprised by the question. She looked down to Hugo as though seeing him would give her something to reply with, but catching the terrified look in his eye only made it more difficult.  
>"I...I thought I did."<p>

The tears couldn't be held back any longer. She turned away a little in order to hide her reaction, but it was difficult not to see how much she was hurting.

"It appears you love him still," Godric spoke.

"I do!" Isabel admitted, "I'm sorry. But you are my sheriff. Do with him as you please."

Godric stared down at Hugo, who kept his eyes respectfully pointed towards the floor. He waited for the orders to be given for him to be taken away and killed. But he was highly under-estimating Godric's character.

"You are free to go."

"What?" Stan said, stepping forward out of the crowd. He wasn't alone in feeling shocked at the sheriff's decision; some of the other vampires exchanged glances, while the others knew Godric well enough to have expected this verdict. Stan glanced at Persephone, who had a knowing smile on her face as she gazed at her husband.

"The human is free to go," Godric repeated, "And do not return. For I fear it is not safe for you here."

Isabel helped Hugo to his feet, uttering a small cry of relief as she did so.

"This is travesty!" Stan growled.

"This is my verdict," Godric told him, not sternly but definitely edging on it. Like Persephone, he too had lived with Stan long enough to know both how disobedient and how violent the man could get. In truth, he didn't much like having Stan around, but, as far as vampire genealogy went, Stan was practically his brother.

"Eric, escort him out. Make sure he leaves unharmed."

"Yes, Godric."

Eric took Hugo from Isabel and led him away through the small gap the crowd provided, and out towards the front door.

"Thank-you. Oh, thank-you, sheriff," Isabel cried, looking as though she were about to throw herself at Godric's feet.

Godric simply nodded. The crowd began to recede; now that the show was over they could get back to their conversations and drinks. Persephone observed them without a lot of interest, awaiting Eric's return.

"I told Eric the truth about us," she said.

Godric turned his head to look at her. "What was his reaction?"

"A little angry. Mostly confused, I think. It upset his whole understanding of the past 1000 years."

"I imagine it would have. It is good that he finally knows, though."

"I think we should-"

"Hugo's been dispatched," Eric interrupted, returning to the room and standing before them, "I told him to keep driving until he reached the Mexican border. I've arranged an AB-negative human for you, too. Extremely rare."

He cocked an eyebrow as he said the last two words to show his own approval of the idea, but his pleased expression fell as he noticed that Godric wasn't as enthusiastic as he had hoped he would be.

"Thank-you. I'm not hungry."

Eric looked at Persephone but her expression was just as plain as Godric's.

"Well, you have to feed eventually," he tried, "Both of you. Persephone, I know that you haven't had a drop since we arrived here."

Her sullen shake of the head renewed Eric's memory of what she had said to him; '_He doesn't want to be found'_.

"Why didn't you leave the Fellowship as soon as I came for you?" he inquired.

"They didn't treat me badly," Godric told him, "You'd be shocked at how ordinary most of them are."

Eric wasn't convinced by his maker's considerate attitude towards Reverend Newlin's band of stake-wielders.  
>"They do nothing but fan the flames of hatred for us."<p>

"Let's be honest," Godric said frankly, "We are frightening. After thousands of years, we haven't evolved. We've only grown more brutal, more predatory. I don't see the problem with treating humans as equals."

"A result of Persephone's preaching, no doubt," Eric commented.

"She may be my maker, but she does not control my beliefs, nor my actions. Every vampire acts on free will and should utilize their ability to do so. You would do well to keep this in mind," Godric told him.

Eric frowned at his maker's words, which, to him, sounded suspiciously accusatory. Eric wondered if he had ever blamed Godric for any of his actions or thoughts, but thought not. He had too much respect for him to hold him responsible for anything he had done that had incurred serious negative consequences. Besides, Eric's personality was hardly the same as Godric's, especially now.

Back when Godric had first turned him, he had been the very thing he was now disgusted by; brutal and predatory, killing humans without mercy. Eric had seen Persephone's influence on him, the way that she consistently taught him new ways to carry out actions with as little bloodshed as possible; she had even begun a new sort of policy with them that humans were to be fed on, but to be spared death, their memory of the attack simply glamoured away. Of course, she was much older than both of them, so the guilt and regret that she held within her heart had had more time to slowly eat away at her. Whether her lessons to them were influenced by guilt or were genuinely her beliefs was another question altogether.

"That's why you wouldn't fight them when they took you?" Eric finally asked.

"I could have killed all of them in seconds," Godric replied, "But what would that have proven?"

A small scream issued from inside the living room, distracting them from their conversation. In a flash, Godric was gone from his seat. Eric and Persephone followed him into the adjoining room and saw that he had a female vampire by the throat. Something about the chalky-white woman seemed familiar to Persephone; perhaps they crossed paths many years ago, but she couldn't recall.

"Retract. Your. Fangs," Godric ordered her, tightening his grip around her neck to show that he was entirely serious, "Now."

The woman did so, but cast Sookie, who stood nearby next to Bill, a very dark look.

"I neither know nor care who you are," Godric continued, "But in this area, and certainly in my own nest, I am the authority. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sheriff," the woman replied, looking defeated.

"This human has proven herself to be a courageous and loyal friend to our kind" –he motioned to Sookie as he said this- "and yet you treat her like a child treats a dragonfly; pulling off wings for sport. No wonder their kind hates us."

"She provoked me," the woman muttered, sounding a lot like a defensive three year-old.

"And you provoked me. You have disrupted the peace in my own home. I could snap you like a twig, but I haven't. Why is that?"

"It's...your choice," the lady sighed.

"Indeed it is."

"Why does that woman look so familiar?, Persephone asked Eric as they stood observing from the doorway.

"Her name is Lorena. She is Bill's maker. "

"Why is she here?"

Eric didn't reply, giving himself away to her instantly.

"You didn't...call her, did you?" Persephone asked, frowning with high suspicion.

Still no reply.

"Oh-ho-ho-oh. Eric Northman; interested in a human."

"I am not," he denied.

"So you called Bill's maker here for no particular reason and yet he was suspiciously absent in all of our planning and visits to the Fellowship, who were holding his human prisoner? And as a result of his absence, you seem like the night in shining armor that came to her rescue."

Eric scowled at her, knowing he had been caught out. Yes, he had interests in Sookie Stackhouse, interests that surpassed her telepathy and any other abilities she might have that would make her valuable to a vampire.

They turned their attention back to Godric as he asked Bill to escort Lorena off of the premises. Persephone caught Stan throw her a look and told Eric she would be back in a moment. Eric gave a soft grunt of reply, returning to the room they had been in previously, where Godric was now seated once more.

Stan was sitting on one of the couches, next to another vampire who he had been talking to moments earlier. He stood up to meet Persephone as she approached, but their attention was diverted to a young man that had just entered the room.

"Excuse me, everyone," he announced. He was sweating heavily and his complexion was pale as if he were nervous. "My name is Luke McDonald. I'm a member of the Fellowship of the Sun. And I have a message for all of you from Reverend Steve Newlin."

At the words 'Fellowship of the Sun' and 'Steve Newlin', surrounding vampires got to their feet; fangs appeared all around the room.

The young intruder opened his jacket, revealing that he was strapped with masses of silver chains and, right in the middle of his torso, a bomb. He raised a detonator.

The blast shook the house.


	14. Chapter 14

Streams of blood trickled down Persephone's face as she stood frozen to the spot; shock trembling through her, but slowly departing. Her tongue flicked out from the corner of her mouth and caught some of the blood mid-stream. Her eyes widened as the taste hit her; not human. Stan.  
>He had stepped in front of her at the last second, to shield her from the pieces of flying wood and silver. His actions had spared her life. But not his.<p>

Her lip twitched as a massive wave of anger swept over her, drowning out all other senses. From a few feet away, Bill locked eyes with her and, without a moment's delay, they sped out of the room to catch the bastards that had aided the suicide-bomber on his death quest.

* * *

><p>Two young men, both Soldiers of the Sun, scrambled into their white van after the explosion sounded from the house. None of their rigorous 'Light of Day Institute' training could have prepared them for what they were about to face.<p>

"Go, go, go!" one of them screamed as the other started the engine and fiddled nervously with the gearshift.

A loud 'THUD!' told them that they hadn't moved fast enough. The passenger side door was yanked open and a powerful, cold arm reached through. The man seated beside the door screamed as the hand fastened on his forearm. He was pulled out of the moving vehicle.  
>The driver, breathing in sharp, panicky breaths, allowed himself to believe for a moment that he had been spared.<br>He was wrong.  
>In fact, his passenger was far better off than he was about to be.<p>

Spotting a woman standing on the middle of the road ahead, he slammed on the brakes, sending the van into a sideways skid. Just when he thought he had hit her, his door was pulled off its hinges and tossed aside. Then, like his passenger before him, he was dragged out into the darkness.

Persephone threw the man onto the road, shattering most of the bones in his body. He still managed to let loose a blood-curdling scream of terror and pain, despite the sudden numb sensation engulfing his lower body. With the innate human instinct of self-preservation all he had to hold on to, the man tried to crawl away, his hands feeling around for anything he could use to pull himself forward.

Persephone observed him without emotion, allowing a minute for the pain to really set in before she brought her foot down onto his forearms; first the left, then the right. The bones snapped like dry branches.  
>Wailing as loud as his lungs would allow, the young man finally gave up trying to crawl, knowing he had no way to escape. But Persephone was not quite finished yet.<p>

She picked him up by his left arm and leg, ignoring the screams he was emitting, before flipping him onto his back. Kneeling down onto his cracked ribs, she thrust her fangs into his throat and allowed the fast-pumping blood to pour into her mouth. When she'd had as much as she wanted, she took his head in both her hands and proceeded to rip it off, tossing it into the gutter.

Her chillingly barbaric cry of victory pierced the night air and echoed through the stillness of her surroundings. This was the side of Persephone rarely seen.  
>The true vampire.<p>

* * *

><p>By the time she returned to the nest, those that had survived the blast were beginning to move around, helping the wounded and trying to comprehend what had just occurred. Godric stood in the middle of the living room, his grey shirt splattered with blood, but seeming none the worse for wear. He was dazed, perhaps, by the fact that hadn't seen the attack coming, but seemed apathetic about it all. Isabel approached him with her assessment of the damage.<p>

"Who's dead?" he asked her.

"Paolo, Catherine, two human companions. Stan."

They both looked over at Persephone, who was covered in blood, the majority of it dripping from her hands and chin. Her eyes slowly swept the area, taking in as much as she could. She noticed Bill over with Sookie, speaking aggressively to Eric who looked like a smug child. Sookie seemed fine physically, but with her arms crossed and her expression disgusted, she gave the appearance of someone emotionally assaulted.

"Everyone, please!" Isabel said, calling them all to attention.

"They may come back. Go to the Hotel Carmilla. They've been alerted and security is in place," Godric advised the survivors. He turned to Isabel; "Perhaps you would like to join them? Ensure they all arrive there safely, and then remain there yourself?"

"Sir, are you sure that would be wise?" she asked.

He gave a nod of assurance.

"Yes. Alright," she agreed, "but first I will contact the appropriate authorities. It would be better for them to hear about this from us, than from an indirect source."

While Isabel moved off, Godric approached Persephone. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gazed at the blood on her face and shook his head. Meeting his eyes, she was surprised to find a tiny hint of amusement in them, though it didn't show in his overall expression.

"You killed the humans that did this?"

"One of them," she replied.

He nodded slowly, finding her decision, in this case, to be acceptable.

"Will we remain here?" she asked him.

"For now," he replied.

* * *

><p>Jessica had been ordered by Bill to return home after he had managed to slip away from Lorena. His request had come under very awkward circumstances, as he walked in on her and Hoyt making love in her hotel room. Hoyt had decided to purposely defy his mother and go after the girl he knew he really liked; he had driven all the way to Dallas to be with her.<p>

They now stumbled into Bill's house, back in Bon Temps, kissing and eager to continue where they had left off in the hotel. Jessica pushed Hoyt down onto the couch and climbed on top of him, giggling as he grinned up at her.

"Sorry to interrupt."

Jessica gasped and turned around. A man she had never seen before was leaning casually against the door frame, a cigarette dangling between his lips. His black hair, long and flippy at the front, fell over his eyes as he bent his head forward to light it. He took a long drag before he looked back at them.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jessica asked, pulling her shirt closed as she realised how much skin she was showing in front of stranger.

"Name's Felix. Any idea where I can find Persephone?"


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Song – 'All is full of Love' by Bjork**

* * *

><p>'<em>You kidnapped a prominent member of our community.'<em>

'_He volunteered. _He_ came to _us.'

'_Because everybody wants to burned at the stake.'_

Persephone chuckled at Nan Flanagan's remark. As the media representative for the American Vampire League, it was Nan's job to deal with any sort of vampire related controversy. In this instance, she was in the middle of an argument with the Newlins on the late news. It was only hours since the Dallas vampires had entered the Fellowship of the Sun's headquarters and even less time since the Fellowship had sent a suicide bomber into Godric's nest, and already the Newlins had managed to get their faces back on T.V. to have their say.

Persephone and Godric had arranged for a room at the Hotel Carmilla, finding the damage to their home to be more than they wanted to deal with at that point in time. It had taken Persephone a while to convince Eric to leave them and return to his own room, but he had eventually agreed, as long as they notified him immediately of any new developments. Once she had washed all the blood from her body and changed into some clean clothes, Persephone had lay down on their king-sized bed and switched on the television set. The only reason they had requested a room with a television was so they could keep track of any news that broke regarding the events that had taken place.

Godric, who had gone to make sure that the vampires he had sent to stay at the hotel had arrived without complication, now returned; coming through the door to find Persephone watching the news with a look of amused disbelief.

"What is so funny?" he asked her, taking a seat at the end of the bed.

'_We are fighting for God's green earth and daytime and Christmas and Easter eggs and all that's sacred and good. We are fighting for-'_

'_Human rights! _Human_ rights', Steve Newlin interrupted his wife, who cast him a steely look._

"I can't believe these two," Persephone said, "They're ridiculous."

"So don't watch," Godric suggested. He pulled himself back onto the bed, and moved up beside her. Taking the remote, he switched it off. His hand moved up to her face and he gently ran the backs of his fingers across her cheek and down along her jaw, coming to rest under her chin. He looked at her with a tenderness that had never waned, not even after 2000 years.

"I love you above all others, and I always will. You know that?" he asked.

"Yes."

He searched her eyes carefully to make sure that she wasn't lying for his sake, but he could see that she was telling the truth.

"You gave me this most wonderful gift. I owe everything to you," he said.

"You owe me nothing," she replied, "I destroyed the most beautiful part of you; your soul. Because of me you have suffered _so_ much."

Godric shook his head and moved closer to her.  
>"You gave me something much more beautiful. Love."<p>

She lay back as he bent down to kiss her. He paused to look down at her. What she saw as utter damage to him, he saw as something of unbelievable fortune; to have met her and have been chosen to remain by her side for centuries. He couldn't have asked for more, yet he couldn't find the words to describe his appreciation. He only hoped that she understood the way he felt, or he would risk leaving her in a state of total loss when his time finally came.

With heavy thoughts plaguing their minds, they made love one last time in a wave of affection and profound sorrow.

* * *

><p>The following evening, Godric woke to find Persephone standing at the foot of the bed; though she was so still that it might have been a statue made to look like her. She broke the illusion of this as she raised her head from its thoughtful bow, to look at him.<p>

"I know what you plan," she said, her voice so soft that only another vampire could have heard her speak, "I just need you to tell me why."

She was hugging herself as though cold, her hands clutching gently at her elbows. She looked small and vulnerable, like a child lost in the dark.

"I place no blame on you. For anything. But 2000 years is enough. I can see that you still have so much life in you, that you will probably remain here for centuries to come; but I am done. My time here is up. I have decided."

Silence hung in the air like a fog. It was broken by Persephone's sudden outburst of weeping. She clasped her hands to her face and leant forward as the overpowering grief forced its way up out of her. Her hands slid down but remained like claws shaking just below her chin.

"I am so sorry!" she cried, though it hardly came out above a hoarse whisper, "What have I done to you?"

Godric frowned, but with a gentle smile. "You misunderstand me. I _was_ once happy. Happier than a _mortal _man could ever dream to be. It is this world that afflicts me so. I can no longer be a part of it. But rest assured that I love you forever. Perhaps no longer in this world, but certainly in the next; we will one day be united again. But, I would rather be alone for eternity than know that you have followed me against your heart's own true desire."

He waited while she considered his words carefully. Finally, she spoke.  
>"I understand. I do not agree, but…I understand."<p>

"And that is all I ask."

* * *

><p>"Do you have any fucking idea of the PR mess you've made? And who fucking has to clean this shit up? Me. Not you, me. I should drain every one of you bastards."<p>

It hadn't taken long for Nan Flannigan to arrive at their hotel room, furious about the incident that occurred with the Fellowship and ready to place all the blame on Godric for the anti-vampire church's actions. Flanked by two of her body guards (who were undoubtedly also vampires) she stared around the room, glancing from one person to the next and waiting for some sort of explanation.

"Stan went after the church on his own. None of us knew anything about it," Eric told her, as he sat on the opposite side of the room to where she was currently seated. He was clearly not thrilled to be in her presence.

"Oh, really?" Nan asked with mock sincerity. She turned her attention to Persephone, who sat very closely next to Godric on one of the white sofas. The terrible irony of it was, although they were soon to be an immeasurable distance apart, his final decision had brought them closer together than they had ever been before.

"You, his maker, had no idea what he was up to? After three hundred years, you think you'd know better than to leave him unsupervised," Nan continued.

"Don't speak to her like that," Eric growled.

"Don't speak to _me_ like that," Nan retorted, "Now let's get to the point." She turned to Godric. "How did they manage to abduct you?"

"They would have taken one of us sooner or later. I offered myself," he replied.

"Why?" Nan asked, screwing her face up at the absurdity of the idea.

"Why not?"

"They wanted you to meet the sun and you were willing?"

Eric watched Godric in wait for his reply, hoping to hear him say that he hadn't known what they had planned to do to him. He caught Persephone turn her face away, but sensing her steadily growing grief, Godric had taken her hand into his. She turned to look at him and they exchanged gentle smiles, Persephone's being so weak it might not even have appeared at all.

"What do you think?" Godric finally said to Nan, who was still observing them with complete bafflement.

"I think you're out of your mind. And what's this I hear about a traitor?"

"Irrelevant. Only a rumor," Godric quickly replied, defending the dignity of Isabel, who stood beside the couch he was seated on. She gave him a grateful look and couldn't help but feel a renewed sense of loss for her human companion.

"I will take full responsibility," Godric finished.

"You bet you will," Nan agreed.

"You cold bitch." Eric shook his head at her disrespectful attitude. She glared back at him.

"Listen, this is a national vampire disaster and nobody at the top has any sympathy for any of you. Sheriff, you fucked up. You're fired."

Godric nodded as though this was to be expected.  
>"I agree. I would suggest you allow Persephone to take over, if I didn't know her well enough to think she would have no interest in doing so."<p>

Persephone made a soft noise of amusement to show that this were very true. As she had once told Eric, she had little to no desire to be in any position of authority in the vampire chain of command.

"What are you saying?" Eric frowned, "She's a bureaucrat; you don't have to take any shit from her."

"You wanna lose your area, Viking?" Nan asked.

"You don't have that kind of power."

"Hey, I'm on TV. Try me."

They resumed their scowling contest, while Persephone glanced across at Sookie and Bill, who were seated on the sofa opposite. Sookie met her gaze and, glancing from Godric back to her, posed a silent question about what the hell he was doing. Persephone simply shook her head and turned her attention back to the Vampire League representative. Although Sookie couldn't read the minds of vampires, it wasn't difficult to see that Persephone was hurting badly.

"It's okay," Godric assured Eric, "I remove myself from all positions of authority."

"Works for me," Ms. Flannigan said.

"Wait!"

Sookie moved forward on the couch and looked at her with deep earnest. "Godric rescued me from a really large rapist who probably would've killed me, too."

"That's nice."

"No, listen...," Sookie implored, but Bill took her by the forearm and gave her a look of warning.

"Moving on," Nan continued, ignoring the human's attempts to gain her attention.

"And then he rescued humans in that church plus a whole lot of vampires," Sookie went on, "You think it's a PR mess now, it could have been a hundred, a million times worse. You should thank him."

"For getting kidnapped? For attracting a suicide bomber? For piss-poor judgment? I think not."

Eric had had enough. He rose from his chair and, with a dark expression, took a number of steps towards her. Her guards also took a step forward and she glared at him as though daring him to make a move.

"Sit down, Eric," Persephone ordered calmly. With a heavy sigh, he obeyed.

"Now, tell me about the bombing," Nan continued when it seemed as though they had all calmed down once more, "Every single detail."

"A boy walked into our nest. I thought he was someone's human companion," Godric explained.

"But he actually _said_ that he had been sent by the Fellowship?"

"Correct."

"More specifically, Steve Newlin," Persephone interposed.

"I heard a rumor that you met with him a few months ago. Is this true?" Nan asked her.

Persephone felt everyone's gaze as they awaited her answer. She had arranged the meeting with the Newlin's without anyone else's knowledge, though she supposed that Steve had probably said a few things about it to his congregation.

"Yes."

"What?" Isabel said, unable to control her surprise.

"You actually _requested_ to be in the same room as those people?" Nan asked.

"I arranged a meeting with them to discuss the possibility of a truce. Of course, they were not in agreement with the suggestion. I think they thought I was trying to trick them or something."

"I don't understand how you actually got them to agree to see you in the first place. You didn't glamour them, did you?"

"No," Persephone replied, shaking her head at the suggestion, "I believe they wanted to see what it was like to be up close to one of our kind. They do most of their preaching from a great distance. Before then, I don't think they'd even been in a room with a vampire, let alone exchanged words with one."

"How did you get away?"

Persephone glanced up at Nan, who was eyeing her curiously, then she scanned the faces around the room, which each held similar expressions (except for Godric who, although he also hadn't known anything about what she had done, didn't find anything too surprising about it).

"Our meeting didn't last long. It didn't take me long to realise that there was no chance of ever getting through to them. They thought it was all a joke. I think that the thought of having me killed passed briefly through Minister Newlin's mind, but for some reason he let me leave. Not without threats, of course."

Nan glanced from Persephone to Godric and then raised her eyebrows.  
>"No wonder you two have managed to stick together for so long; you're both insane. Godric, come to my suite to fill out the forms."<p>

She stood up to leave, but Godric didn't move.

"Soon. First I have something to say. I'm sorry. I apologise for all the harm I've caused, for all our lost ones, both human and vampire. I will make amends. I swear it."

Nan was slightly taken aback by his sudden profundity. Frowning, she stepped towards him and gave him a stiff pat on the shoulder.  
>"Relax, it's only a few signatures."<p>

While Nan and her two bodyguards left, Godric remained in his seat. He glanced down at Persephone's hand which was still clasped in his, and then they both stood up. Watching all of this, Eric suddenly realised what was about to go down.

"No," he told Godric as they moved towards the door.

"Look into my heart," Godric said.

"You have got to listen to me," Eric tried.

"There's nothing to say."

Eric looked to Persephone for help, but she was keeping her gaze directed away from them.

"On the roof," Godric decided.


	16. Chapter 16

The air was warming up outside as it quickly progressed from night to early morning. The sun couldn't have been more than a few minutes from rising.

To keep up appearances, Godric had signed the papers, as proposed by Nan, and she had left without a clue of what was about to happen. Only four stood on the roof of the Hotel Carmilla; Eric, Persephone, Sookie and Godric.

"Two thousand years is enough," Godric said conversationally, as though discussing it as a more of a theory than something he was about to put into practice.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Persephone asked him gently. He nodded, smiling as though he were cheerful. He looked in the direction that the sun would soon appear from, beginning to unbutton his white shirt.

"This is insanity," Eric argued, "Persephone, stop him!"

"I cannot. I released him centuries ago. And why would I stop him when he has spent so long deliberating, and finally coming to this decision?"

Eric stared at her, eyes full of disbelief and anger, "Why? Do you not know what he is about to do?"

"She knows," Godric said, turning towards the two vampires.

Sookie stood nearby, watching the vampires as they spoke to one another. She had never seen Eric so upset; let alone thought him capable of any emotion at all. Despite the way he usually treated her and, in particular, the way that he had tricked her into drinking his blood the night before, she actually felt sorry for him.

"She knows," Eric repeated Godric's words, giving a near-hysterical bark of laughter, "She knows and she allows it."

He ran his hands back through his hair, distress marked on his features.

"We don't belong here," Godric sighed, "We're not right."

"You taught me that there is no right and wrong, only survival or death!" Eric cried, stepping towards his maker and waving his hands to show his desperation.

"I told a lie, as it turns out."

Hearing Godric's remark, in a voice that was still so gentle despite what he was about to go through, Persephone was overcome with a new bout of tears. Sookie took a reflexive step towards her, as it was in her nature to automatically give comfort to others when they were in such obvious need of it, but she stopped when she saw Godric glance over at the crying vampire.

He went to her and took her hands in his, somehow still smiling despite all that was going on. Persephone couldn't stand to look up at him and see him with such an expression. It was too much to bear.

"Remember my words," he said to her.

Slowly, she raised her head and met his eyes. Her eyes were still brimming with blood-tears, those that had already spilled leaving small red streaks down the sides of her face.

"I'll stay out here with you," she suggested.

"No you won't" Godric replied, knowingly. He gazed at her a minute longer, but with sunrise drawing nearer, they didn't have much time to spare.

Persephone knew that he was right; not matter how much she wished he wouldn't go through with his plan, she knew that she wasn't quite ready to leave the world. She wouldn't be following him into death; the ultimate death.

He leant forward and kissed her on the forehead, before turning back towards the horizon, where the sky was beginning to glow with the first rays of sunlight. Continuing to undo his shirt, he moved forwards, as though in a trance.

"I will keep you alive by force."  
>Eric stepped towards him once more, so overcome with emotion that he could barely get his words out.<p>

"Why would you be so cruel?" Godric asked him.

At these words, Eric fell to his knees in utter defeat. Tears bled from his eyes.

"Godric, don't do it," he pleaded, his voice cracking with grief, almost inaudible, "Please. Please. Please, Godric."

"Father. Brother. Son," Godric said, recalling the words he spoken moments before he had first turned Eric, "Let me go."

"I will not let you die alone."

"Yes you will. As your maker, I command you."

Eric slowly got to his feet. Looking towards the horizon, he saw that the sky glowed with a pale pink. It was nearly time, but neither he nor Persephone could stay any longer. They would have to leave him to die alone, without either of his most dearly loved friends.

"I'll stay with him. As long as it takes," Sookie told Eric. Persephone was already on the staircase that led back into the hotel. She didn't want to hang around any longer; she couldn't.

Eric followed her. They moved in silence, both heading for Eric's room. Persephone knew that they could offer each other a little comfort, in the very least.

* * *

><p>The red digits on the alarm clock beside Eric's bed changed to read 6:38. It was over now. Godric was gone.<p>

Persephone stood with her back against the wall, as still as any piece of furniture in the room. The blood on her face had dried, leaving dark lines down her pale cheeks. Eric was seated on the end of the bed, just as still and bloody-faced as Persephone. The silence was so heavy in the room that it might have forced them both to their knees.

They couldn't bring themselves to look at one another for fear of conjuring up memories of the friend they had just lost. They remained this way for hours and by the time Persephone finally moved, it had reached three o'clock in the afternoon. Sookie, Jason and Bill were more than likely already on their way back to Bon Temps.

"We need to rest," Persephone said quietly.

Eric looked at her and the change of expression was so dramatic that Persephone stopped as she walked towards him. He was glaring at her fiercely, the same way he would look at a human that had shown him disrespect.

"This is your fault," he growled.

Persephone didn't reply, remaining passive to this statement as though she agreed. Eric stood up, his anger failing to abate.

"You should've stayed here with him, instead of tramping over to Louisiana and doing as you pleased; seeking out human companions as though you had no one waiting for you back home. You could have kept him from thinking about it. He would still be here. He wouldn't have..."

He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence as he was suddenly filled with a mix of rage and misery. He grabbed Persephone at threw her into the wall, letting his emotions getting the better of him. She could have overpowered him, but she didn't care what happened to her. She wanted to feel pain; to feel something and to be distracted from her own thoughts.

Eric grabbed her and tossed her onto the bed, appearing on top of her suddenly and thrusting his fangs deep into her neck. He raised his head with a roar, her blood pouring from his mouth and down onto them both. Persephone grabbed him and threw him onto the floor, sitting up on the bed and healing the wound he had just created. Seconds later he was back, trying to overpower her, but this time she wouldn't allow it.

"Eric," she said calmly, "Stop."

He pushed himself back away from her and commenced crying once more, this time not holding anything back. Persephone sat beside him on the end of the bed, the better of the two at handling emotions. She had witnessed so much in her lifetime and although this hurt the most out of anything she had experienced, it was near impossible to feel anything besides nothing. But he was gone. Her first child; the first she had ever passed the gift on to.

She felt Eric's gaze on her and as she turned her head, he moved forward, this time not to bite her again, but instead to kiss her. In a flash she was gone, now standing in front of him.

"No," was all she said.

"I love you."

"And I you. But not like this."

"I need this. Now. Please, just give me this," he begged in the same manner he had when they were on the roof.

When he glanced up to catch her gaze, he found that she had left the room.

* * *

><p>"I'm returning to Louisiana, where I will remain from now on. I have already taken the first steps towards having the house restored to its original state, before the bombing took place. I'm leaving it to you, as the new sheriff of Area 5."<p>

"That is not confirmed."

Persephone gazed at Isabel, who hadn't been notified about Godric yet, but she could see that Isabel knew something wasn't right; especially since Persephone's cheeks will still heavily stained with tears.

"It is soon to be. You will do well," Persephone assured her, with a forced smile.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay, at least for a few days?"

Persephone shook her head.  
>"I'm no longer needed here."<p>

Isabel frowned, but nodded. With Stan gone and Godric no longer responsible for the area, she didn't blame Persephone for wanting to leave for somewhere new.

"You have been a good friend," Persephone told her, "Be sure to keep in touch. If you encounter any problems in your new position, don't hesitate to call on me."

Persephone turned towards the door, pausing as her gazed landed on the gold wedding ring on her left hand. She stared down at it, shut her eyes briefly, and then set off for Bon Temps; her new home.


	17. Chapter 17

There was something different in the air in Bon Temps. Something unsettling.

Standing on her front porch, arms crossed over her chest, Persephone frowned up at the night sky, trying to place the odd feeling she was getting. She flicked her head towards the front door as she heard her cell phone ringing on the kitchen bench.

"Yes?"

"Oh, thank God. Are you back in Bon Temps?"  
>It was Jessica, sounding simultaneously relieved and worried.<p>

"Yes, I am. What's the matter?"

"I think you need to get over here. There's some weird shit going on and there's a guy here asking for you. He won't leave."

"What does he look like?"

"I don't know. Black hair. Kinda hot in a creepy way."

"Felix."

"Yeah, that's what he said his name was. So you know him?"

"I'll be there in a second."

A little over 10 seconds later, she arrived at Bill's house. In the living room were Sookie, Jason, Bill, Jessica, Hoyt, Hoyt's mother, Maxine and Felix. The latter was standing in a corner, looking very shady and appropriately so, considering his past as a once-human serial killer. The only difference now, Persephone mused, was that he was an _undead_ serial killer.

They were all quietly chatting (with the exception of Felix) casting nervous glances every so often at Maxine, who was acting very strange as she focused her energies on some sort of computer game. The talking ceased and they all looked up as Persephone entered the room. Felix did a double-take when he saw her; she hadn't changed a bit.

"Persephone," Bill began.

"What's going on here?" she asked, looking concerned. It wasn't so much that the humans were disconcerted, but more the fact that Bill also seemed disturbed, that alarmed her.

"Do you know this young man?" Bill started off, glancing back at Felix as he emerged from the shadows.

"Of course she does. She made me," he said, as though it wasn't information vampires usually kept private.

"How many vampires have you made?" Sookie asked, sounding very critical of the vampire, completely forgetting herself and her usual politeness.

There was an awkward silence as Bill cringed at his human and the others (besides Maxine, who continued to play the Wii with much enthusiasm) stared at Persephone, uncertain whether or not she would respond.

"Three," the lady vampire finally answered, keeping her eyes trained on Felix, as though he might start attacking all the humans in the room at any moment, "But to more important things, what's going on in the town?"

Jason ushered her over and pointed to Hoyt's mother, who seemed oblivious to everything that was going on around her. Motioning for her to look at the woman's eyes, Jason stepped back, shaking his head, his own eyes wide in disbelief. Persephone saw that Maxine's eyes were completely black; no whites and no iris.

"That's odd."

"Odd? That's fucked up, what that is," Jason said.

Persephone cast another glance at Felix, who was unperturbed by the black-eye situation and who was quickly becoming restless from her lack of attention.

"So any idea?" she asked them all.

Bill shook his head. Jason stepped closer to Mrs. Fortenberry and examined her eyes with the fascination of a child.

"Is she the only one like this?" Persephone asked.

"Nope. Whole town's like this, I reckon," Jason told her.

Hoyt cleared his throat awkwardly, knowing that what he was about to say would get a bad reaction from her.  
>"She's... been going on about Sam Merlotte and... how they're going to offer him up to God."<p>

Persephone felt something click within her, as Hoyt's words touched upon some things she hadn't thought of since she had left for Dallas a week ago. Now she recalled Sam and the problems she had left him here to deal with.

"Where is he?"

"Well, she said that everyone's waiting at Merlotte's so they can catch him and take him to Maryann's."

"Where's Maryann's?" Sookie asked.

"It's, uh...it's your house," Hoyt explained with a furrowed brow.

"What?" Sookie cried.

"They're going to rip that boy open and serve him up like barbecue!" Maxine grinned, taking a swing at a tennis ball on the screen.

Persephone turned her head to look out the window, her expression sullen. Just as she began to move with lightning speed out the door, she felt a hand grip her wrist. The owner of said appendage was dragged a number of feet, out onto Bill's front lawn, failing to realise that there was no way they could have stopped her. She glanced down and saw Jason, who was still holding her wrist, but with a pained expression on his face as he raised his other hand to his shoulder.

"Ow! Jesus! You just about tore my arm right off!"

"You should never grab a vampire before they travel."

"Yeah, I'll remember that," he winced, rubbing his shoulder some more. He took the hand that Persephone offered him, letting her pull him to his feet.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine', he assured her.

"What did you want that was so urgent, anyway?"

"You're goin' to Merlotte's, right? Well, I ain't letting you go alone. This is my town. It's my job to look out for it, not yours. I ain't about to let monsters come in here and destroy it. No offense," he added quickly.

Persephone held back a frown, failing to see how his comment would have offended her, but recalling his reputation for being not entirely bright.

"Let's go," she suggested. They began walking towards Jason's pick-up. "What are the others going to do?"

"Bill and Sook are going over to Sook's place to find Tara. Hoyt and the red-headed vamper are stayin' with Ms. Fortenberry, I think. That other vamp took off," he told her.

"So it looks like it's just you and me then."

Jason threw her a cautious look as it dawned on him that he was going alone on a night-time drive with a vampire. He may have decided that the Fellowship of the Sun was full of shit, but that didn't mean he'd changed his mind about vampires being bloodthirsty, untrustworthy creatures that could tear your throat out without a second thought. They got into the car and began driving towards the bar in silence. After a while, Jason started in with a bunch of questions he'd wanted to ask for a long time.

"You and Sam were like, seein' each other, yeah? I heard a few people talkin' about it."

"I suppose so."

"Did he let you bite him?"

Like Sookie, Jason had the tendency to let poorly-phrased (and often impolite) questions escape before he could realise what he had said. Only, in Jason's case, he never seemed to realise that what he said was offensive.

"No," Persephone replied.

"Huh. I thought that vampires always bit during sex."

Persephone was beginning to feel that if she was going to be spending any length of time in Jason's company, she would have to get used to these sort of questions and comments.

"Not always."

"So that guy in Dallas; that vampire with the tattoos that the Fellowship had locked up. Was he a friend of yours?"

"My husband, actually."

Jason raised his eyebrows and flicked his eyes from the road, to the vampire next to him and then quickly back to the road.

"I didn't know vamps could get married. Wait, so if you were married, why were you here with Sam?"

It was amazing that a man so well known for his stupidity should be the one to raise one of the most significant questions. All the same, Persephone didn't want to answer him. After a few moments passed without a reply from her, Jason glanced over at his passenger again and could tell from her expression that he was stepping into very personal territory. He didn't say another word for the rest of the trip.

They parked on the side of the road that led up to Merlotte's, not wanting to risk parking in the actual parking lot in case they were seen or caused panic amongst the already-muddled townsfolk.

"Alright," Jason began, grabbing a chainsaw from back of the pick-up and holding it up in a way that seemed a tad dramatic, "Here's the plan: I go in and access the situation" –(Persephone didn't bother correcting him here) – "Then I'll give you some sort of signal. We find Sam and get him out of there. Nobody gets hurt. Sam's safe. We're both heroes."

Persephone gazed at the building in the distance, which shone with the light from its big neon sign. She looked back at Jason.  
>"I have a better plan. You wait here. I'll be back."<p>

Before Jason could protest, Persephone disappeared.

"God damn, fuckin' vampires!" he shouted, lowering his voice halfway through the curse, when he realised one of the bug-eyed, crazy people might hear and come after him. With a sigh, he began making his way up the road, the chainsaw now drooping as his sense of heroism fell away.


	18. Chapter 18

Walking into Merlotte's, Persephone couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. It was almost like any normal Monday night there; people filling up at the bar, music playing to add atmosphere, people dancing with their dates, people having sex behind the counter...  
>Hell, even Terry and Arlene were there. Arlene was the first to notice that they had a new visitor, and although normally she wasn't that thrilled about Persephone being at Merlotte's, tonight she didn't mind letting the whole bar know that they had someone new to pull into their crazy shenanigans.<p>

"Hey, look ya'll! It's that vamper! Maybe she can help us get Sam for The God Who Comes!" Arlene shouted.

Everyone turned around (even the man who had his face buried between the legs of some random girl behind the counter turned his head to look). All their eyes were black like Mrs. Fortenberry's had been. It was eerie, but everyone there seemed to be having the time of their lives. Suddenly, they all erupted into cries of delight and rushed towards the surprised pale woman.

Jason was right. This was definitely fucked up.

* * *

><p>"Did they just say 'vampire'?"<p>

Andy Bellefleur had slugged his way down to Merlotte's with Sam, after the latter had received a desperate call for help from Arlene. Unfortunately, it was Sam's kind-hearted nature that had gotten them into the situation they now found themselves. They had barricaded themselves into the industrial sized refrigerator in order to escape the horde of mindless townsfolk, who all had their mind set on capturing Sam for Maryann.  
>Needless to say, they were both now freezing, with only a bottle of whiskey to warm them up a little.<p>

"Do you think it's Bill?" Andy asked.

Sam moved to the door to the fridge and listened carefully to what was going on outside. He could hear excited chattering and, every now and then, a burst of hysterical laughter.

* * *

><p>"I was sent by Maryann," Persephone told them all, thinking on her feet, "I am here to collect the offering."<p>

"Yes!" the crowd cried.

"Oh my gosh, could you bite me? I've always wanted to be bit by a vamper!" said a particularly plump woman.

Persephone was sure she had seen her in the bar before and was also fairly certain that this woman was constantly bad-mouthing the humans that associated with vampires, to her friends.

It looked like the act wasn't going to work on the crowd, not because they could see through it, but more so because they were more interested in what she was, rather than what she was trying to do. Much to Persephone's relief, Jason chose that moment to make his entrance armed with a roaring chainsaw and a nail-gun.

"Hey! Everyone! Over here!"

He brought the chainsaw down on a stereo that was blasting music from the counter. He decided to abandon the tool as it got stuck in the wood of the bar, and turned to check on the crowd.  
>They shifted their attention to him, but quickly lost interest and began chanting. The words sounded foreign to Jason, but Persephone recognised them; they were Greek words, alternative names for the Greek god Dionysus.<p>

"This takes me back," she muttered to herself.

Annoyed by the crowd's lack of attention on him, Jason tried something new, this time grabbing the nearest person (which happened to be Arlene) to use as leverage. Luckily for him, Terry was still 'with it' enough to care about her.

"If ya'll don't move, I'm gonna... I'm gonna shoot her!" Jason warned.

"No, wait. Time out!" Terry said quickly, "You can't hurt my special lady. Alright, what are your demands?"

"Move," Persephone ordered, her voice and expression growing dark.

Her fangs slid out to their full length. The crowd gasped and stepped back, running into one another and knocking a few people down in the process.

Jason looked uncomfortable about the sudden turn of events, his eyes darting nervously from Persephone, to the crowd and then to his hostage. He was used to being the one that took charge in situations, not someone to sit back and let someone else do it for him; especially not when that someone was a woman..._and_ a vampire! But he didn't have much of a choice on this one.

"Alright, you heard her! Out! Get out!" he ordered. Terry's face twitched with indecision, but when he looked at Arlene again, he made up his mind.

"Everyone out!" he agreed, herding them all towards the front entrance. He turned back to Jason, who had edged Arlene towards the door. "Okay, Stackhouse, we did what you said. Now hand her over."

Jason passed Arlene forward and quickly shut the door behind the two, locking it and chucking the nail-gun aside. He nodded to Persephone that it was safe for Sam to come out.

* * *

><p>"That's not Bill," Sam told Andy, a big smile spreading across his face.<p>

"It's your vampire? That woman?"

"Sam?" Persephone's voice came from the other side.

"Yeah, we're in here," he replied, breathing a huge sigh of relief, knowing that they could finally get out of there.

"I think it's safe to say you can come out," Persephone told him.

"You didn't kill them all, did you?" Andy called gruffly, receiving a very dark look from Sam.

"No. Who is that?"

"Detective Bellefleur," Andy replied, straightening himself up as if to prove that his title still meant something.

"If you were hoping to get out of there sometime tonight, I suggest you do it now."

They removed the items they had been using to block the door, and opened it to find the bar empty, except for Jason, making a last ditch attempt to remove the chainsaw. Persephone turned her head to Sam and smiled. He could've thrown her down right then and there, as he felt a strong mix of love and lust rush through his body; but they had to focus on getting out. He settled for a hug, ignoring the fact that her fangs were out and focusing on the fact that she had come back.

"I would ask what the hell's going on in this town, but I'd rather see you safely out of here first."

"Yeah, let's get outta here before-"

Andy was cut off as Terry kicked open the front door. Everyone came rushing back in and crowded around the bar, their eyes trained on Sam. Persephone stepped forward, gazing around at them carefully, waiting for the slightest sign of attack before she would launch her own. She wouldn't allow herself to hurt anyone (well, not seriously, anyway), but she was willing to go to great lengths to assure Sam's safety. That's just the way she was.

"Sam Merlotte, there is no escaping. The God Who Comes always gets what he comes for," Terry told them.

A rather daring man decided to take a shot at going solo to obtain Sam. He jumped onto the bar counter and just as his foot touched the ground, Persephone shoved him away, sending him across the room.

"Whoa," Jason commented. He made a mental note to ask her later how she'd done that, but unless he'd drunk about a gallon of vampire blood, there was no way he would ever be able to replicate the move.

"Look," Sam began from behind them, next to Andy. They all turned their heads to look at him. He seemed to have made a decision about what to do, but his expression was uncertain. "You've gotta save yourselves. She's not ever gonna let up. I'm gonna end this now."

He stepped towards the crowd, receiving cries of protest from both Jason and Andy. Persephone moved to stop him, but he shot her a quick wink. This was all part of the plan.  
>The crowd took him without any disputes, holding him above them as they marched out to the front of the bar.<p>

"You're gonna let them fuck with your man?" Jason asked Persephone, his voice full of motivation as though he were trying to get her to take some sort of action. Clearly he hadn't seen the wink.

"It's under control, Jason. Now we need to work together. Are you willing to do that, Detective?"

Andy frowned, thinking that she was suggesting he had planned on just standing around while a good citizen was sacrificed. "Course I am."

"So, what's the plan?," Jason asked. Persephone explained the general gist of what she had come up with, and after they'd quickly discussed a few issues, Jason left to grab a few things from his truck. He met Persephone and Andy in front of the building once he had what they needed.

"I'll get Sam. All you have to do is provide a distraction."

"Yeah, we got it, alright?" Andy assured the vampire. He was beginning to feel like she didn't have a lot of faith in them.

Maryann's pawns had taken Sam over to one of their cars and were in the process of tying him to the roof; much like a hunter would with his prize kill.

Jason got on top of one of the other cars nearby and proceeded to carry out the first phase of their plan. For this moment, Jason was 'The God Who Comes'.

Meanwhile, while the crowd became distracted by the bright flashing lights of the torch Andy was holding and the flares that Jason was lighting up, Persephone flew to Sam's side and began to undo the knots. The dumbstruck locals hadn't done a very good job of it, though, so it didn't take long to get the ropes loose.

"You know, I think I've pictured something like this in my mind before," Persephone told him as she pulled at the last knot, "Only, I wasn't _un_tying you."  
>She flashed him a mischievous grin, helping him to his feet.<p>

"Time to disappear," he said, meaning it quite literally.

They both jumped down from the car and found themselves in the middle of the gathering with a couple of dozen bug-eyes staring at them. Persephone stepped back, still close enough to jump in if anyone tried anything, but wanting to give Sam some space for what he had to do.  
>He stepped forward and put his arms up as though he were surrendering to Jason.<p>

"Smite me, Lord!" he told him.

Jason, a flare in each hand and a gas mask over his face, stood staring down at Sam with a distinct lack of comprehension. Oh, for the love of God...

Persephone caught him glance at her for help and she made a movement with her hands, as though she were playing the piano really fast; though what she was trying to signify was a sort of 'magic fingers'. That seemed to get through, as he directed his hands towards Sam.

"I smite thee, Sam Merlotte!"

Sam pretended to convulse before he disappeared, leaving his empty clothes to fall to the ground. The crowd gasped and then let out a cheer.

"Tell your leader I am very pleased with my offering! You are all blessed. Now go!" Jason told them all.

While Jason took care of getting them away from the bar, Persephone tracked Sam down in the kitchen, where he stood naked and looking for something to cover himself with. He settled for an apron.

"Are they gone?" he asked as he tried to tie the strings behind his back. Persephone moved to help him out; not that he needed it. He stood still and let her take the ties from him, feeling himself relax in her presence.

"I didn't think you were coming back."

She kissed the curve of his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder.  
>"I'm finished with my life in Dallas."<p>

As she hugged him from behind, he noticed that her wedding ring was missing...or maybe just gone. She had left it in a safe place back in her house; she didn't see a point in wearing it anymore.

"Well, I don't know what happened. But I'm glad."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek and went to find the fire extinguisher; Jason had thrown a few flares around and the last thing Sam needed was for the bar to catch fire somehow. Once he'd found what he was looking for, he and Persephone stepped outside and just as he spotted the first flare, she reached over and gave him a smack on his bare behind. He shook his head at her, but he couldn't hide the big smile on his face.

Nearby, Jason and Andy exchanged confused frowns. They had no clue what had just happened, what with Sam suddenly evaporating and all, but they did know that he owed them a good explanation.


	19. Chapter 19

"So you can change into any animal, at any time?"

Jason was taking Sam's confession pretty well. Andy, on the other hand, though trying to appear just as alright with this new piece of information, wasn't doing well at covering up his surprise. He was acting standoffish to the bar owner and was doing his best to change the topic.

"We got a maenad we gotta deal with. Shouldn't we be discussing that?" he asked them.

"A maenad?" Persephone said with distinct recognition. She looked as though suddenly everything made sense to her. "Oh, of course. I can't believe I didn't see that earlier."

"You've dealt with one of these before?" Jason asked, sounding hopeful.

"No, but they're not unfamiliar to me." She checked the clock on the wall. It was only minutes until dawn.

"You gotta go?" Sam asked.

"Yes. I'll be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, keep yourselves safe. Sam, could you call Sookie? Make sure she and Bill are alright?"

"Sookie's back in town?"

Persephone nodded. She returned a small wave of good-bye that Jason gave her, before setting out for her house. The pinkish color of the sky reminded her of the morning on the roof in Dallas...

* * *

><p>The day seemed to drag by, with the only event of any real significance being the discovery of Arlene's two kids, Coby and Lisa, hiding out in the woods that bordered the bar. Jason and Andy had driven off in Jason's truck, with the former on a definite mission to save the town from the evil maenad.<p>

Sam now leant back against the bar's counter as Coby and Lisa wolfed down the food he had made for them; they claimed they hadn't eaten in almost three days and it certainly looked that way. Try as he might not to, Sam could only think about Persephone. She always had that effect on him; as soon as he saw her, he couldn't get her out of his head. Maybe it had something to do with her being a vampire, a power of theirs that he didn't know about; but it more likely had nothing to do with bewitching magic. It was simply his own feelings, and he had begun to see that. The moment he had heard her voice the previous night, he had felt relief, not resentment. And no matter what excuse he tried to come up with to convince himself that they shouldn't be together, that would just be suppressing what he knew he really felt.

"What's wrong with our mama?" Coby asked, taking a big bite of his sandwich and bringing Sam out of his thoughtful daze.

"I'm not exactly sure," he replied, recalling the horrible black eyes Arlene had had, "I think she might be sick."

"She doesn't seem sick," Lisa thought aloud.

"She seems crazy," Coby added, "Can we get her a doctor?"

"Uh…" Sam began, before being cut-off by Lisa.

"Or someone to make her like she used to be? Like a vampire!"  
>Lisa seemed quite proud of herself for coming up with such a smart idea.<p>

"Like Vampire Bill!" Coby said, approving his older sister's suggestion, "I bet he'll know what to do."

"Or the lady vampire we saw in here once. Where's she?" Lisa asked.

"She'll be comin' around tonight to help us out," Sam assured them.

"I heard our mama tellin' Rene that she didn't like havin' vampires around. I think she's scared of them."

"Well, some vampires are scary, but that don't mean all of them are, and it ain't a good reason for hating them, either."

"I know that," Lisa said, with a smile.

* * *

><p>Persephone showed up before the sun had even gone down properly, the last few rays moving slowly downwards in the purple and blue sky. Sam came out of his office to greet her, noticing that she was gazing curiously at the two Fowler children, who stared back at her with just as much interest.<p>

"Hello," she greeted them.

"Hi. You're a vampire, right?" Coby asked. Lisa had gone a little quiet now that she was actually face to face with one.

"I am."

"Persy. These are Arlene's kids, Lisa and Coby," Sam explained.

"I can tell. You're both as pretty as your mother," Persephone smiled. Lisa returned the expression, albeit with a little shyness.

"I don't want to be pretty," Coby replied, disliking the girlish adjective. Sam and Persy chuckled.

"We're just gonna go talk for a minute, okay?" Sam told them, "We'll just be in my office."

"Alright," Coby said. He didn't seem too worried about the potential kidnappers that were loose in the town. He went back to his ice-cream, while Lisa just stared down at her own, having lost her appetite.

"Did you call Sookie?" Persephone asked, once they were away from the kids. They didn't go as far as to shut the door, in case someone did decide to wander in from outside, but they didn't want to have this kind of conversation in front of children, either.

"I did. She's over at Lafayette's house looking after Tara."

"Did she say where Bill was?"

"He went to talk to someone who might know how to kill Maryann."

"A maenad."

"Right. You said last night that you'd heard of them?"

Persephone hesitated here, knowing that there was the chance their conversation could move dangerously close to where she had come from when she was a human. She didn't want to go into that sort of information with him right now, mainly because she wasn't sure how sturdy their relationship was at that moment. Saying the wrong thing could scare Sam away for good.

"I have, but I don't know how to kill one. I didn't know that there were any left. I guess I was wrong."

"Do you know anyone else that might have any ideas? I mean, in case Bill's friend, or whoever he went to see, doesn't give us anything useful."

A number of things ran through Persephone's head: one was that Bill had probably gone to the most obvious first choice (for him, at least), Sophie-Anne; the vampire queen of Louisiana. She had a palace in New Orleans (of course), to which Persephone had only been once and it had not been a pleasant experience. Another thought was that Eric might know something useful. There had been a brief period of around a century or so when he and Godric had travelled by themselves, while she went to wander on her own; perhaps he'd picked up something in that time. Convincing Sam to go to Fangtasia, though...well, that would be a challenge in itself.

"I know someone. You aren't going to like it."

"Who? It's not like we have any other choice right now."

"We'll have to bring the children, too."

"Persy, just tell me: where do you want you go?"

"Fangtasia. In Shreveport."

As she had expected a number of things fluttered across Sam's face, but he eventually nodded. If that's where they had to go in order to end all of this, he was willing to do so.  
>They shared a kiss, indulging in it a little longer than they had originally intended, and then went out into the bar to tell Coby and Lisa that they were going for a drive. The sun had completely left the sky by the time they settled into Sam's car.<p>

The drive from Bon Temps to Shreveport was around forty minutes, so Persephone entertained the kids with a game of I-Spy. Of course, it was slightly altered for their benefit, seeing as it was dark and as humans they wouldn't be able to spot, for example, 'something beginning with B. Yes, that barn, 500 yards away'.  
>For a brief moment, Sam was able to catch a glimpse of what could have been; him driving along beside a good woman and a couple of kids. But he knew that this sort of future wasn't possible with a vampire. And that hurt quite a bit.<p>

* * *

><p>Since it was a Tuesday night, it wasn't very busy at the vampire club; their busiest nights being Friday and Saturday, like any other clubs or bars. Persephone was slightly concerned (for the sake of the children) that Eric would have the female dancers on duty, but she was glad to see that the only people inside were a few humans sitting at the bar, where Chow, the vampire bartender, was serving up drinks. Persephone led Sam and Arlene's kids, who where holding onto her hands tightly, towards the back of the club, towards Eric's office.<p>

"Those yours?" Chow joked from behind the bar. He flashed them a pointy-toothed grin, attempting to scare the youngsters, but only Lisa frowned, keeping close to Persephone.

"Eric?" Persephone asked, ignoring his comment.

"Out back."

Pam was not impressed to find them all outside the door. She gave Persephone her usual scowl, but was even more disgusted by the fact that she had not only brought a shifter with her, but two human children, too. Eric, however, was curious; given that he hadn't seen Persephone since the awkward moment between them in his hotel room, after Godric's death.

"Perhaps we should talk out on the floor," he suggested, referring to the main area of the club. They followed him to a couple of red leather chairs and all took a seat.

"What brings you here...with a shifter, I might add?" Eric asked, doing his absolute best to try and offend Sam.

"And two _children," _Pam added, spitting out the last word like it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Do you know anything about maenads?" Sam asked. There was no point beating around the bush, not when lives were at stake.

"Maenads? I would have thought that Persephone would know more about those things, what with her being-"

"Eric," Persephone interrupted, in a tone full of warning, "A simple 'no' would suffice."

Eric was enjoying this just a bit too much. He grinned at her and shifted his gaze back to Sam.  
>"Why should I help <em>you<em>?"

"Because we wouldn't have come here unless we had no other choice. If you help us, maybe someday I can give you somethin' you need."

"Would you end you relationship with Persephone?" Eric suggested.

"No," Sam replied firmly.

"Eric," she said, in the same tone as earlier.

Behind where Eric was seated, Pam rolled her eyes. Eric gave a forced sigh and sat back, "That's a shame."

"If that's all, then we're leaving," Persephone said, getting to her feet. This seemed to change Eric's mind.

"I may know someone who might be able to offer some useful insight," he said. Persephone glanced at him and then sat back down. At least he was being co-operative now.

"If you're referring to whom I think you are, then Bill has already gone to that source."

"Ah, but Bill and I do not share the same relationship with said source. I may be able to find out much more than he can."

"Well, if you think it'll be worth it, then by all means." Persephone waved her hand to say 'go ahead'.

"Can I see your fangs?"

Coby was staring at Eric in awe. To him, Persephone looked like a normal woman, but Eric appeared massive and powerful; it was the difference in statures that fooled him. Amused by the small child, Eric humored him and popped out his long, sharp teeth. Lisa leant back as far as she could in the chair, clearly uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, little girl? Don't you like vampires?"

Persephone leant forward to block Lisa from Eric's view, a protective move that Eric found very interesting. Lisa surprised her by sitting forward.

"Our almost-step-daddy hated vampires. But we don't," she said in a small voice.

"He went on a vacation with Jesus," Coby said confidently.

"You two make me so glad that I never had any of you," Pam commented, ignoring the look that Persephone shot her.

"Oh, come on, Pam. I think they're funny. They're like humans, but miniature. Tea-cup humans."

Persephone cracked a small smile over Eric's comment and he was quick to catch it before it disappeared.

"Jag hata dem. De er så dum," Pam commented, reverting to their native tongue.  
><strong>I hate them. They're so stupid.<strong>

"Utom läcker," Eric replied.  
><strong>But delicious.<strong>

"We're definitely leaving, now," Persephone told them. She could understand a number of languages perfectly well, and English wasn't even her first language by far; in fact, a good proportion of the languages she did know were now considered 'dead'. Ironic.

"I'll walk you out," Eric offered, as they all got to their feet. "You're doing well?" he asked Persephone on a more serious note, as they headed for Sam's car.

"Okay."

"I see you aren't wearing your ring anymore."

Persephone didn't reply to this comment, but she didn't need to; he could read enough from her expression.

"Goodnight, tiny humans," he said, bending down to better see them. He straightened back up after a very brief moment. "I'll let you know if I find out anything useful."

"Please do," Persephone said, sounding impatient. He smirked and then shot off like a bullet, up into the night sky. Coby and Lisa stared up with their mouths hanging open.

"He can fly!" Coby exclaimed with excitement. He looked back at Persephone as though he were expecting her to do the same at any second. Instead, she opened her car door and got in, waiting for them to do the same so that they could finally leave.

* * *

><p>As soon as they arrived back at Merlotte's, Persephone headed for the phone in Sam's office. Glancing at the list of employee numbers on the wall, see dialed Sookie's mobile and waited. It didn't take long for Sookie to answer.<p>

"Sam?"

"It's me, Sookie."

"Oh hi, Persephone. Is something wrong?"

"Ha hah, where to begin."

"Good point," Sookie replied, "Have you heard anything about what's going on? Or about maenads?"

"No. Sam told me what you told him this morning. We're pretty much on the same page. Eric just left to see what he could do."

"Eric?"

"Yes. Where are you right now, Sookie?"

"I'm at Lafayette's."

"Is he alright?"

There was a pause on the other end as Sookie relayed a few things to someone nearby, presumably to Lafayette himself.

"He's fine, I guess. Tara took off. We're about to go over to my place to find her. That's where all this is coming from. Can you believe the nerve of Maryann? Just movin' into my house without even askin' my permission?"

Persephone frowned into the phone, finding Sookie's words a bit odd; but then again, that was just Sookie.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"We'll be fine. Be sure to let us know if you hear from Bill. Eric, too, I guess."

Just as Persephone placed the phone back on the receiver, Sam came in through the back door, the one that led out towards his trailer.

"I just put the kids to bed," he told her, failing to hold back a frown when he realised how weird that sounded. Persephone caught on to this and made a similar expression, but gave herself a mental shake out of it.

"Good, I guess that gives us time to talk, then."

Sam nodded, but before either of them could begin, there was a knock on the door.  
>Bill was back.<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

Bill's expression said enough. He had a solution, but they weren't going to like it.

"I didn't think of asking you," he began, speaking to Persephone, "though now it seems like the obvious thing to have done."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Sam asked, frowning as he caught the arresting look that Persephone was giving Bill.

"I don't know anything. Did you learn anything useful?" Persephone said, quickly changing the subject.

Bill glanced at Sam warily; he wasn't on very good terms with the man since his obvious, earlier interest in Sookie, but since Persephone seemed to trust him, he made up his mind to do so as well.

"I am told that this woman, this 'maenad' believes if she finds the perfect vessel, sacrifices and devours part of it while surrounded by the magic of her familiars, then her mad god will appear."

"Dionysus?" Sam asked, his eyebrows creased at the thought of an actual god appearing.

"Not likely," Persephone mused, "What's supposed to happen after that?"

"Well, at that point, she willingly surrenders herself to him. That's the only time that she can be killed," Bill explained.

They spent a few moments contemplating this new information but failed to see how this helped them, especially Sam; they were basically in the same position as before, only now it was worse because they knew what they had to do to finish Maryann off.

"There has to be some other way," Persephone thought aloud.

Bill shook his head.  
>"We need to do something <em>now. <em>They have Sookie. And the whole town will probably die if we allow this to go on any longer."

"So what are you suggesting? That we just give Sam to Maryann? She'll kill him. I won't allow it."

Bill and Persephone stared at each for a minute, Persephone stance on the topic very clear. Sam began to feel uncomfortable in the silence, his fate seeming to hang in the hands of these two vampires.

"I realised that you would feel that way. That's why I came up with something a little different. Without anyone dying," Bill spoke finally, "That is, of course, if you are both willing to co-operate."

Sam and Persephone looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain.

"It would require us delivering Sam to Maryann in exchange for Sookie. And then we allow Maryann to sacrifice him."

"Fantastic plan, Bill," Persephone said, "How is it any different from the first one?"

"If you would allow me to finish," he continued, giving her a stern look that he usually reserved for Jessica, "Once she believes that her sacrifice has been successful, you can remove Sam and give him your blood. He will live."

Sam and Persephone exchanged a glance. He was touched by the amount of concern she had in her eyes, but he found himself nodding.

"It'll work," he told Bill, "Then once she's vulnerable to be killed...?"

"Well, her god, this 'bull-headed man' could come in most any forms, correct?"

"I guess."

"I thought that you could use your gift."

"Transform into a bull?"

"Bill, it appears I underestimated your brilliance," Persephone smiled. It was a good plan. Although it would involve Sam being seriously hurt, something that she didn't want to think about, Persephone could see no other way around it. Tonight was the night that Maryann died. For good.

* * *

><p>Nearly the whole town, it seemed, was attending Maryann's little shindig at the Stackhouse residence. Sam, Persephone and Bill stood beside a tree in the woods that bordered Sookie's home. One of the partygoers, a rotund man, danced naked around what looked like a large stack of meat and branches, many different parts of him flopping about. Persephone snorted at the sight, receiving looks from both of the men next to her, who failed to see anything funny about the situation. Reminding herself of what Sam was about to go through removed any further reasons to laugh from her mind.<p>

"Where's Maryann?" Sam asked.

"And Sookie?" Bill added.

The townsfolk began gathering around the meat-tree, leaving a space in front of both it and Sookie's porch.

"There's the bride," Persephone announced to them quietly. Maryann came down the steps in a long, white wedding outfit, complete with a bouquet of flowers. She was followed by four women and Lafayette, who were all also wearing white and were presumably acting as the bridesmaids; Sookie was among them.

"Let's go," Bill said, moving off.

Persephone grabbed Sam's hand as he went to follow him, turning him back to face her.  
>"I'll be fine," he assured her, before letting her pull him into a hug.<p>

"I just wish there was another way."

"I think we all wish that," Sam smiled.

Bill was waiting for them a few feet away, polite enough to give them a moment to themselves. Seeing Persephone with a human reminded him why he got along so well with her; they had a lot in common as vampires: they both liked humans, they had both been in serious relationships with other vampires (which was a rare thing amongst the general vampire populace) and they both found other 'normal' vampires despicable...in some cases.

Following the plan they had settled on, Bill grabbed Sam by both arms and forced him towards the gathering. Sam pretended to be struggling against the man, but when he saw the look on Maryann's face when she spotted him, he found that the struggling became less forced. Why had he agreed to this?  
>Then he spotted Sookie, looking beautiful but scared, and reminded himself of what was at stake.<p>

"I have your offering," Bill told Maryann, who looked absolutely delighted, "I give you him in exchange for Sookie."

"Bill! What are you doing?" Sookie cried. To her, Sam looked scared out of his wits, which wasn't too far from the truth at that moment.

"This is the only way," Bill replied, taking her from Jason and handing Sam over.

"Persephone! They are going to kill him!" she pleaded.

Persephone was standing towards the front of the crowd, avoiding everyone's eyes but Sam's. Maryann was too overjoyed to notice much of anything, but just to keep up appearances Sam resumed his struggling, this time throwing in a few cries of protest. Jason took him away, while Bill pulled Sookie back towards the crowd. She was doing her best to get away from him, though; clawing and shrieking at him to let her go.

Jason and a few others returned moments later carrying Sam on some kind of board. He was tied onto it, much like he had been on the roof of the car, only this time the knots were fastened tightly. Persephone watched as a young black man brought something over to Maryann on a pillow. It was a golden dagger, much like the one that Persephone had mounted on the wall at her house. For a minute, she wondered if it wasn't the same one, but the thought slipped from her mind as Sam was placed against the meat statue. Maryann resumed the chanting and the entranced others joined her without hesitation.

"Lord Dionysus, I offer you this sacrifice. May you accept it and be reborn once more on our wedding day," Maryann said towards the sky, her arms outstretched.

The weapon-bearer took the dagger from the pillow and stepped up to Sam, who had been gagged to muffle his cries.

"We give you thanks," the man muttered, before plunging the knife into Sam's stomach.

Persephone froze, which is a hard thing for a vampire to do seeing as they are virtually motionless when they stand in one spot. She couldn't hear a lot over Sookie's screams, but she could tell that the chanting was reaching its climax. In a moment she could take Sam away from all of this and end his pain. But in the few minutes that she had to let him bear it, a number of things happened; Maryann brought the proceedings to a close, using Sam's blood to rub all over her face and neck, and then Sookie escaped Bill's grasp and picked up a large egg from the statue, smashing it on the ground.  
>Using this momentary distraction to her advantage, Persephone darted forward and untied Sam, quickly carrying him off into the woods behind Sookie's house.<p>

She could feel Sam hovering around the fatal edge and so set him down on the ground, leaning him up against the base of a tree.

"Stay with me, Sam," she said to him, biting into her wrist and pressing it to his mouth, "Drink. Yes, good."

He clasped her forearm as the blood pumped into him, immediately beginning to heal his near-mortal wound. When she felt he'd had enough, Persephone gently pushed him back, licking the last few drops from her wrist so that the bite she'd made would heal. Sam looked better already; color coming back into his cheeks, but with sweat still pouring down his face. He had blood all over his mouth, but looked grateful. To show just how grateful, he leant forward and pressed his mouth up against hers. She returned the kiss briefly, but they hadn't quite finished their plan just yet.

"There'll be plenty of time for that kind of thing later," she told him, as they both got to their feet, "It's time for the final act."

Nodding, Sam slipped off his shirt and unbuckled his pants. Concentrating on the image of what he wanted to shift into, he seemed to buzz with energy before transforming into a huge white bull. The bull turned its head and looked at her with gentle eyes, swishing its tail casually. She smiled and gave a nod for him to go, which he did, heading towards the dirt road that passed behind the house. This was it. In a few more minutes, no more maenad. Or so they hoped.

* * *

><p>Maryann was decidedly pissed at Sookie for smashing her Ostrich-egg offering.<p>

Sookie was running for her life, quite like the night she had been attacked after having an argument with Bill, and it was by the very same creature that pursued her now. She was knocked to the ground with a sweep of one Maryann's large, clawed hands; but just as the maenad was about to land a fatal blow, a white bull appeared, walking towards them. Maryann stood still in awe; it was her god. Or so she thought, and that was the way they wanted it.

Sookie watched as the bull drove its horn into Maryann's chest.

"I am the one to be to be sacrificed!" she cried, surrendering herself to the whims of the creature, "Take me my lord! I am the vessel!"

But suddenly the bull wasn't a bull anymore; it was Sam. And the horn was no longer a horn; it was Sam's arm, his hand grasping the still-beating heart of the woman that had made his life a misery. He tore out the organ and scrunched it like paper, tossing it aside as it shriveled up. Maryann seemed to fold in on herself; it was quite a disgusting process, as her body collapsed to the ground and her fluids spilled out around her.

Sookie stared at Sam with a bewildered expression, but soon became distracted as Bill and Persephone emerged from the woods. Bill went to her side and helped her to her feet. Persephone walked up to Sam, who was naked from his transformation, and passed him the pair of jeans that he had left back by the tree. He took them from her with a smile and she watched him get back into them; though she would much rather him go without them.

"She's dead?" Bill asked from behind them. Sam nodded slowly and glanced back over at the withered corpse.

Sookie was still looking around at them in confusion. "I thought they killed you," she told Sam.

"They nearly did," he replied.

"Persephone gave him her blood. It was the only way we could think of to end this," Bill explained.

"How are you feeling?" Persephone asked Sam, concern etched on her features. He ran his hands back through his hair, but his smile held strong.

"Sam, you were ready to die for us?" Sookie asked. Sam glanced at her and turned his attention back to Persephone.

"I knew Persy wouldn't have let me. But I guess if things hadn't gone right, yeah, I would have died."

Sookie smiled at the two as they gazed at each other, but it slid from her face as she looked over at Maryann's body. "Bill, you have to get rid of that. I don't care where, just get rid of it."

Bill nodded and got to work, picking up the light shell and disappearing into the forest. Jason and Tara then appeared from the direction of the house, running towards Sookie and the others. At least now they knew that the townsfolk were out of their trances.

Jason frowned at Sam and Persephone, who were now locked in a very passionate kiss, wondering what kind of sick people would be turned on by something like this; but Sam had had a lot of Persephone's blood, which had certain side effects, not to mention the fact that she had just saved his life and they hadn't seen each other in over a week. But maybe it would be better for them to take it to Sam's trailer, (once Coby and Lisa were back with their mama, of course), after all: there had been enough public indecencies for the night.


	21. Chapter 21

Sam and Persephone lay beside one another in bed, facing each other. They'd helped to make sure that everyone got home safely, despite the fact that most of those involved in the ceremony had come out of their trances in a daze of confusion. Sam knew he would have to come up with a relatively believable story to spread among the patrons in the bar tomorrow, when he would open up his business in an effort to give everyone something familiar to return to. As long as his employees corroborated on the story, there wouldn't be too many questions raised; especially not in a conservative little town like Bon Temps, where anything out of the ordinary was usually either blatantly ignored, or otherwise persecuted.

They had woken up Coby and Lisa once most of the others had left, and delivered them back to Arlene, who was in a mess over them not answering their home phone. Seeing them again had gotten Persephone thinking.

"Did you ever think of having kids?" she asked Sam, who was absentmindedly running his fingertips along her leg.

"Course. I think every man thinks about it at least once in his life," he replied. He noticed the forlorn expression that fell onto her features as he said this. Maybe it hadn't been the right thing to say, but it was the truth.

"It's just...Seeing those two kids...I'd never thought that it would ever bother me that vampires can't have children of their own."

"Well, it doesn't bother me," he assured her with a gentle smile, "Besides, we could always adopt if you wanted to. I don't think there are any laws against that are there?"

"Most likely. What would be the point, though?" She lay back and ran her hand through her long, dark hair. "I would only be able to see them briefly at night time, before they would need to go to bed. And you would have to look after them during the day; drive them to school, help them with their homework. All the normal things a parent would do with their child. I wouldn't be able to watch them grow up."

Sam lay down next to her and propped himself up on one elbow so that he could still look at her. "It sounds to me like you have thought about this before."

"Only since I've been with you," she replied; and it was then that he realised that she _was _taking their relationship seriously. He had never really been sure, especially with her being a vampire; he had always thought vampires saw humans as food with a few extra benefits. But then, he guessed, she hadn't bitten him yet, nor even asked to do so.

Glancing at the digital clock on the bedside table, Persephone saw that it was a little less than an hour until dawn; and she still needed to find and talk to Felix. She sighed, wishing she could stay with Sam until morning, but that was impossible of course; another fact that made things just that little bit more difficult.

"Get some sleep, Sam," she said, giving him a kiss of the top of his head, "I'll come by the bar tomorrow."

"I'm glad you decided to come back," he told her as she reached the front door.

"So am I," she replied.

* * *

><p>She went to her own house first, hoping to find Felix there. She was in luck.<br>Felix was stretched out on a long metal deck chair on her front lawn, wearing a pair of blue-cotton boxer shorts, and a pair of dark sunglasses. He turned his head, feeling her presence by the gate, but stayed where he was.

"What are you doing?" Persephone asked, coming into the yard. There wasn't a lot of light around her house, only what the moon and her porch-light provided, but she could see quite clearly that Felix looked exactly the same as the day she had turned him, minus the usual cigarette he had perched in the corner of his mouth.

"I'm moonbathing; what does it look like?" he replied. Like Stan, Felix had the tendency to make everything he said sound sarcastic, so sometimes it was hard to pick out when he was being serious.  
>"So what was that all about?"<p>

"If you're referring to the bug-eyes and the craziness," she told him, motioning for him to move his legs up a bit so she could take a seat at the end on the chair, "It was a maenad."

"A maenad, huh?" he said dismissively, "What are you doing all the way out here in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere? Wasn't there a husband in Dallas?"  
>He lingered on the 's' in Dallas, as though he were bored.<p>

"He's gone."

"So does that mean you're single? Ha hah, I'm totally kidding. I saw the ring on your table."

"I put that ring in my safe," Persephone said, frowning at him with suspicion.

"Safe. Table. Whatever. You smell weird."

"Thanks."

"No, you do. Like a human, only not. Werewolf? No, not nearly putrid enough...Shifter." He chuckled knowingly and then sighed, resuming his relaxation.

"Are you staying?"

Persephone picked up his hand so that she could read the time on his watch. She had never bothered wearing one because she could usually feel when it was time to rise or go to her resting place. She only really checked the time out of habit.

"I'll probably be hanging around for good. There was a fair amount of heat around those murders back home, so I thought I come by and see what you were up to. Traced your phone to here, so..."

You really couldn't imagine him being a stalker-slash-serial killer, could you?

"The police have been investigating?" his maker asked, wondering why he hadn't bothered to cover up his crimes; then again, he hadn't bothered when he was a human, either.

"Yeah, they even convicted some guy over it. He's due to be executed in a few weeks. I'm kidding! God, loosen up, Pers."

"Come on. It'll be dawn in a minute," she said, getting up and glancing around the yard. It was growing closer to autumn and most of the flowers were slowly going out of bloom. The area still smelled wonderful and sweet, though, but the sunflowers had lost their petals and closed over in preparation for the coming cold.

Felix got up and left the chair where it was, taking off his sunglasses and following her towards the house.

"Who was that cute little baby vampire? The red-head? She looked like she'd be my type," he asked.

Knowing that Felix usually liked his 'type' cut up and left for dead, Persephone decided that dissuading him now would be the best thing.

"Don't even try to go there," she told him.

His laugh echoed through the house as they moved towards her hidden sleeping space.

* * *

><p>Merlotte's was surprisingly busy the following night. Sam had been right about people wanting something familiar to go back to after all the craziness of the past week; even the staff seemed relieved to be back working. Sookie and Arlene were waiting tables, while both Lafayette and Terry were working in the kitchen and Sam and Tara were behind the bar making drinks. Andy and Jason, who still both considered themselves heroes despite the fact that they had fallen under Maryann's spell before even getting close to stopping her, sat together at one of the tables; Andy was drinking diet coke in an attempt to ward off the rumors that he was still a major alcoholic.<p>

After passing a large trucker a glass of beer, Sam went back to what he had been doing for most of the night: staring at the door, waiting for Persephone. Tara had noticed his behaviour, but this time chose not to comment; she knew what it like to be smitten, having recently found love of her own with a young man known as 'Eggs'. His real name was Benedict. Go figure.

As the workload momentarily slowed down, Lafayette took the opportunity to visit the bar for a pick-me-up. Tara passed him a shot of tequila, his drink of choice, and he leant back against the counter, listening to the customers discuss their varying theories as to what had happened in Bon Temps.

"Aliens," one woman said.

"Government conspiracy," said another.

"Idiots," said Lafayette.

Persephone came in then, looking casual in a pair of dark-blue jeans and a deep-purple tank top, with Felix not far behind. The latter looked around the room curiously, appearing innocent enough to those that had bothered to glance over. Persephone approached the bar to greet Sam, who looked so happy he might as well have been wagging his tail (and in his case, could well have been doing so), but Persephone was intercepted before she got there.

"Mind if I have a word?" Lafayette asked her, glancing over at Sam who gave a nod for them to go, though he looked like a kid who'd just been asked by someone if they could borrow his new toy.

Lafayette led her towards the back of the establishment, where people rarely went unless they needed something from the storeroom, or needed to have a word with Sam in his office.

"Now, I ain't even gonna go into the weird shit that's been happenin' 'round here. Safe to say it is no longer an issue. An issue I do have, though, is that I got a visit from yo' girl, Pam, whils' you were gone."

Persephone frowned, but nodded for him to go on.

"Yo' boy Eric's got me dealin' V, now."

"What?"

"Yeah, I don't know. Thought I'd tell you, seein' as you seem to have some sort o' pull with them. I ain't want nothin' more to do with that shit after what happened last time. So I's gonna leave you with that piece of information; these rednecks done want their damn burgers and I ain't in the mood to deal with their shit. Plus, if Sam pines any harder, I think the motherfucker gonna cry."

Persephone laughed and watched the short-order cook march back to duty, and then furrowed her brow as she thought about what he told her. Eric dealing V? That was stupid, even for him. If it was discovered by the vampire authorities, not only would he lose all positions of authority, he would also probably be forced to suffer some kind of terrible punishment.

She turned around to return to the bar, but found Sam blocking her way, a big smile on his face.

"Hey," he said, pulling her into the kiss he'd been waiting to give her the entire day. "Listen, there's something I want to tell you."

Persephone glanced over his shoulder and spotted Felix seated in one of the booths by himself, talking charismatically to Sookie, who was only trying to take his order. She had the tense smile on her face that usually appeared when she was feeling edgy.

Turning her attention back to Sam, she found that he had followed her gaze and was now observing Felix with some curiosity.

"Who's that?"

"Umm, long story," Persephone replied, "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

Sam turned his head to face her again. "Remember how I told you that I was adopted?"

She nodded, recalling the conversation they had once had, one which had been mostly one-sided because they had been discussing where they'd come from growing up.

"I'm going away for a few days. To try and find my real parents."

"That's great," she smiled, "How long do you think you'll be gone for?"

"Shouldn't take longer than a couple of days, I'm guessing. I'll probably just be stayin' in a hotel, so..."

"I'll drop by and visit," she grinned. He seemed to brighten up at the idea, and moved in for another kiss, before Tara called to him from the bar; things had begun to pick up again.

Persephone sat down across from Felix, who was staring down at his bottle of Tru Blood with disinterest. He liked the real stuff better, preferably directly from the vein, but then again so did most vampires, whether they'd admit it or not.

"What's up?" he asked when he noticed her contented expression.

"I think I might have finally found somewhere to settle down. For good."

Felix picked up the bottle, took a sip, made a face and then nodded at her.

"A nice, peaceful town that's nowhere near any major cities, with hardly any other vampires to give me trouble. Besides, I think this town has had enough trouble to last it a lifetime."

Yeah.

Right.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That was the last chapter of 'Die by the Drop', but keep an eye out for my third installment in the series, 'My Beloved Monster'. Thanks again for reading this far, and any feedback is greatly appreciated.**


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